Veteran Packers security regrets season finisher botch and isn’t ‘anxious’ with questionable future
GREEN BAY — Darnell Savage wasn’t worrying about his long-term future this week. He was still lamenting the opportunity that had slipped through his fingers a few days earlier.
The Green Bay Packers veteran safety and soon-to-be unrestricted free agent had just finished cleaning out his stall with the rest of his teammates when he paused in an alcove near the locker room exit.
Rookie mistake,” he said, shaking his head. “Rookie mistake.
Savage was referring to the potential interception he’d dropped during the Packers’ 24-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional playoff round on Saturday night.
It was still early in the game — on the 49ers’ opening possession, in fact, with 5 minutes, 35 seconds left in the first quarter — when Savage had jumped a Brock Purdy pass intended for Brandon Aiyuk near midfield.
It was a déjà vu moment from six days earlier, when Savage had snagged Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott’s pass and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown that gave the Packers a 27-0 lead on their way to a 48-32 wild card victory.
This time, though, Savage got ahead of himself, and it cost him.
Got to lock in and catch the ball first,” he said. “I was thinking about the touchdown before I caught it.”