Packers: Hit on Ferguson a Cheap Shot

Green Bay Packer receiver Robert Ferguson temporarily lost feeling in his legs Sunday night after a clothesline hit by Jacksonville safety Donovin Darius.

Ferguson regained feeling on the way to a hospital after being taken from Green Bay’s Lambeau Field in an ambulance.

Ferguson was diagnosed with a sprained neck, and team trainer Pepper Burruss said the receiver had movement and sensation in his arms and legs Sunday night. Ferguson was admitted to Bellin Hospital for observation overnight.

In a scene right out of the leather-helmet days of the NFL more than half a century ago, Darius swept in after Ferguson’s leaping 31-yard grab of Brett Favre’s pass at midfield. Darius hit Ferguson across the neck, stunning the crowd and infuriating the Packers with 4 minutes 41 seconds left in the Jaguars’ 28-25 victory. Darius was ejected.

Ferguson, according to teammates, was knocked unconscious. He gave a thumbs-up as he left the field on a stretcher but didn’t regain feeling in his legs until he had left for a hospital for X-rays and further evaluation, Coach Mike Sherman said.

“I thought it was a cheap shot,” Sherman said.

Referee Ed Hochuli ejected Darius and added 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Jaguar Coach Jack Del Rio said he was looking at the pass rush and didn’t see the hit, so he declined to comment. Darius said he has seen players stay in the game for hits worse than his.

“It was not intentional, I was just trying to make a play,” he said. “I’ve done that in the past when I know I couldn’t get an interception, I swung up, trying to get the ball. That’s a technique.”

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On a frigid day at Chicago’s Soldier Field, four football fans had a front-row view of the action.

With the temperature at nine degrees and the windchill at 10 below zero, the fans occupied special on-field seats. They sat 10 yards off the 15-yard line in the southeast corner of the stadium as the Bears took on the Houston Texans.

The seats are part of an NFL pilot program to test the possibility of adding this section permanently across the league.

The four at the game were military personnel, chosen at random at a USO appreciation banquet last week.

“This is for the motivated fan, no doubt,” said Maj. Mike Bollwitt, 40. “If you don’t pay attention here, I feel like you might end up with a player in your lap.”

The seats were enclosed in a cube and included blankets and a pair of TVs.

A Bear spokesman said the team wasn’t worried about security with fans that close to the players because the area was staffed appropriately.

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Sunday’s key injuries:

* Philadelphia receiver Terrell Owens could sit out at least one game because of a sprained right ankle.

* Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck injured his right elbow in the Seahawks’ 37-14 loss to the New York Jets, but the extent of the injury was unknown.

* Buffalo running back Willis McGahee twisted his surgically rebuilt left knee on a catch and sat out the fourth quarter of the Bills’ 33-17 victory over Cincinnati as a precaution.