GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) – Brett Favre has mixed feelings about the Green Bay Packers taking this weekend off, and not just because they’re one of the league’s hottest teams.

Football is as much Favre’s getaway as it is his knack.

The ostensibly indestructible quarterback has made a living out of thriving in tough times, of excelling through injury and tragedy, and he’s had plenty of both lately.

A year after playing with a broken thumb on his throwing hand that is now chronically swollen, Favre has jammed his throwing hand, sprained his right thumb, been knocked out of games with a concussion and a softball-sized leg bruise, and winced as his troublesome left shoulder popped out of socket during a game.

He’s also been coping with the death of his brother-in-law in an ATV accident on his property in Mississippi nine months after losing his father to a heart attack. And last month, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Yet he keeps on directing Green Bay into the end zone, throwing for 2,007 yards and 14 touchdowns, second only to Daunte Culpepper in the NFC. And he’s extended his record quarterbacks starting streak to 216 games, counting playoffs.

Since he last spent a game as a backup, America has gone to the polls four times to elect a president.

Favre can certainly use the respite, but he could sure use a game Sunday, too. While he’s looking forward to getting away from it all for a few days, he’s also eager to get back to work next week.

“I think in some ways, yeah, it will kind of – not just for myself but my family – be normal,” Favre said of spending four days back home on his ranch. “That’s good and, at times, that’s bad. (Without football) there’s nothing to hide behind or escape to. But as with anything, time heals. The fact I get a chance to play football and devote most of my time to that has helped me in a lot of ways.

“I think it will be good and bad, emotionally and physically.”

At least Favre can take time off knowing the Packers (4-4) have given themselves a fighting chance now that they’ve righted their season with wins over Detroit, Dallas and Washington the last three weeks.

But the quest to become the ninth team in NFL history to reach the playoffs after a 1-4 start won’t be easy. They’ve still got two games against Minnesota and trips to Houston and Philadelphia on tap.

Their three-game winning streak coincides with coach-general manager Mike Sherman directing the offense after his coordinator, Tom Rossley, underwent emergency heart surgery, and Sherman plans on calling the plays indefinitely, much to Favre’s delight.

But as he huddled with his staff last week to review the season’s first half, Sherman found many of the same problems he was dealing with at the bye last year: an underperforming defensive line that was expecting much better production from high-priced players Cletidus Hunt and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, a suspect secondary, an inadequate turnover differential and a team that’s drawing too many flags.

Also, a star running back who is putting the ball on the ground too often, although Ahman Green seems to have rectified the problem after ditching the elbow pads that facilitated the ball squirting away.

Sherman also sees a 35-year-old quarterback who shows no signs of slowing down despite a new obstacle popping in seemingly every week.

Favre says he’s no Superman, he just carries on like anybody else would. He has no idea why he plays his best when things are at their worst, other than the notion he sees the game as his three-hour escape, focuses better on the task at hand and takes extra pride in playing well in spite of hardship.

After his wife, Deanna, was diagnosed with breast cancer, many teammates wondered if the news would hasten his retirement. But Favre said it wouldn’t push him into a knee-jerk reaction about his future.

“Do I think about it? Sure. Especially during times like this, I think about it. But it seems like every time something happens people want to jump on the retirement bandwagon. And the more people ask me, the more I want to stick around just to stick it to em,” Favre said.

Rossley said he never worries about the burdens becoming too heavy for Favre because every time there’s a new barrier, he somehow finds a way to overcome it.

“When times are tough, he digs down,” Rossley said, “and there’s something special that comes out of Brett Favre.”

AP-ES-11-04-04 1450EST