GREEN BAY -- As the will-Brett-Favre-retire questions came at Craig Nall Monday afternoon, the Green Bay Packers' No. 3 quarterback felt he was caught in a time warp.

"It's deja vu all over again," said Nall, a backup to Favre from 2002 through '05 who re-signed with the team Dec. 1.

The general feeling Monday in the locker room -- where Favre did not appear during the media access period -- was Favre will be back for an 18th NFL season. He hinted at that recently, and after Sunday night's loss to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game, he suggested the decision won 't take as long as in past years. He announced his intentions last year Feb. 2 and in mid-April two years ago.

At 38, Favre completed a career-best 66.5 percent of his passes for 4,155 yards, 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions for a 95.7 passer rating, his best since 1995. He also set NFL career records for wins by a quarterback (160), touchdown passes (442) and yards (61,655), among others.

"With the way the season went, I guess you would feel that the team would be better next year," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "So I guess you could say that he does have something to come back for. The one thing I know is he can still play football. He proved that this year, had an incredible year. He holds every record now that you could possibly imagine."

Favre met with coach Mike McCarthy before leaving the stadium around 4:30 p.m. Monday.

So long?

Defensive tackle Corey Williams packed up his locker and said his goodbyes to teammates not knowing whether he'd be back inside Lambeau Field again. Williams is an unrestricted free agent and will not return if he receives a lucrative offer the Packers choose not to match.

"Right now, I'm just not even going to think about it," Williams said. "I would love to retire as a Packer, but it's out of my hands."

Williams is the Packers' lone free agent of note. Nall, cornerback Frank Walker, long-snapper Rob Davis and tight end Ryan Krause are among the other unrestricted players, while defensive tackle Colin Cole and running back Vernand Morency are restricted free agents. Breakout halfback Ryan Grant, fullback John Kuhn, wide receiver Ruvell Martin and punter Jon Ryan are exclusive-rights free agents.

Bush not whacked

Special teams coordinator Mike Stock didn't have a problem with Jarrett Bush trying to pick up R.W. McQuarters' fumble at the Packers' 41-yard line on a punt with 2 minutes 30 seconds left in regulation. Bush had the ball but New York's Michael Johnson knocked it out of his hand and Domenik Hixon recovered for the Giants.

"There's two schools of thought. Throughout the whole season, we've made plays. So you can 't fault him for trying to scoop the ball and go, because we teach that, too," Stock said. "In hindsight, because we didn't get possession, (so people say), 'If he'd just fallen on the ball, we've got it first down from there and (with) two first downs, we're going to kick the field goal and end the game.' He tried to scoop the ball and score. That's what we teach."

Extra points

Mark Murphy is scheduled to take over for Bob Harlan as president and CEO Monday. .... Woodson said he'll have his left knee examined but is hoping to avoid surgery on it. Wide receiver Koren Robinson said he doesn't expect to have his right knee scoped, only drained of fluid. ... Receiver Greg Jennings, who had a season-low one reception, said the Giants "didn't do anything to take me specifically out of the game." ... Quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said he had "no clue" about being a candidate for the offensive coordinator job at the University of Alabama.