Green Bay - Take your pick of the factors motivating Green Bay Packers cornerback Al Harris:
• The feeling he has that too many people are defining his career by Plaxico Burress' big game against him in the NFC Championship.
• His deep-seated desire to show the rest of the NFL that when it comes to playing bump-and-run coverage, the line still starts at his locker.
• The debt he feels he owes coach Mike McCarthy for not putting him on injured reserve after he suffered a torn spleen in the Dallas game Sept. 21.
All of them – not to mention getting back to the playoffs - seem to be fueling Harris' intense focus since returning to the starting lineup. He has been playing with as much attitude as the rules allow and the result has been only a single 10-yard pass completion against him in three games.
"I'm pretty sure people were doubting me about coming back from a spleen, and rightfully so - those are your internal organs," Harris said. "But I called Mike the day I found out I would miss a lot of time. I told him, 'Don't count me out.'
"I'll always have naysayers. I wasn't a high draft pick or nothing like that. You always hear that he can't run or this and that. But you never see guys running past me."
Set to turn 34 on Dec. 7, there were no guarantees Harris was going to be himself when he returned to the lineup. But he's one of the best-conditioned athletes on the team and the five weeks off might have actually benefited him in the long run given the chronic back problems he has had.
"People think I'm crazy, but I expected him to do that," cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington said of Harris' seamless comeback. "I really did because he's one of those guys who's going to work his butt off to get back. And he's a competitor."
Said safety Nick Collins: "I don't see anything different. He's been in the league 12 years, but it's not like he's lost a step or something. He was injured, he missed a couple games and came back."
Still, there does seem to be an edge to Harris lately. He has always played that way on the field, revving himself up during games so much so that it has become a detriment in some situations. But for part of this season, he's been terser with reporters and not very tolerant of questions he doesn't like, which happened far less often before his injury.
The memory of the Burress game along with the decision to put cornerback Charles Woodson and Collins on Dallas' Terrell Owens gave critics ammunition to doubt Harris' ability. Harris may have taken offense to the insinuation that he couldn't hold Owens, but he said the strategy was sound and his assignment of covering Miles Austin one-on-one was a key to the whole plan.
Another reason for his increased focus might be the possibility that he is fighting for his future here and in the NFL. He knows promising young cornerbacks like Tramon Williams, Will Blackmon and Pat Lee are waiting in the wings and the Packers have consistently made decisions favoring youth under general manager Ted Thompson.
Whether he is consciously or subconsciously trying to show he has good years left, Harris insists he didn't feel any threat when Williams played terrifically in his stead. Since coming back, Harris' play has been so good that nobody has been talking about Williams possibly replacing him.
"I think the world of Tramon," Harris said. "I think he's done a great job and will continue to do a great job. My style of play, there's nobody who plays it like I play it. Different guys have different strengths. I just think the way I play bump-and-run is how it's taught. Not that anybody else is doing it wrong.
"I was happy he was having success. He worked hard; I've watched him mature into the person that he is. We had similar paths. That's why I'm excited for him."
In his last three games, Harris helped the defense limit Tennessee's receivers to eight catches, threw a shutout against Minnesota's hot receiver Bernard Berrian and helped keep Chicago's Marty Booker, Devin Hester and Brandon Lloyd to three catches for 24 yards. There will be more difficult match-ups starting this week with New Orleans' Marques Colston and Lance Moore, but so far so good.
It wasn't until tight end Greg Olsen, matched up one-on-one in a wide receiver position, ran into Harris and then caught a short pass that the cornerback's shutout streak ended. Harris was so mad that he had allowed Olsen the reception that he threw him down to the ground after the catch, grabbing his facemask along the way.
"It was a good play by him," Harris said, claiming Olsen pushed off. "I was just (ticked off) that a tight end caught a pass. He's a good tight end, but he shouldn't be catching no pass, not on press (coverage). He shouldn't get off the ball. He had to push to get open, which they didn't call it, so it's fair."
And the facemask, was that incidental?
"Somewhat," Harris said.
As for the Burress match-up, Harris wants to put it behind him.
"It seems like everyone was judging my entire career here just off the NFC Championship game," Harris said. "The guy caught some passes. Good receiver. There are a lot of things that go along with coverage, like pressure and other things. I just don't want to be judged on one game. I've played in so many games."
Judging by his recent play, he seems motivated to play in many more.
