Green Bay, Wis. ? Robert Ferguson laughs at all the talk about him being a changed man in his second NFL season after a disappointing rookie year.

“Hey, there’s no difference between me right now and me last year,” Ferguson said. “It’s just now the opportunities are starting to open up a little bit more, and I’m starting to show what I can do.”

Last year, Ferguson was active for one game and didn’t catch a pass. This season he had just 11 catches before Sunday, when he had a breakout performance.

With starting flanker Terry Glenn out because of a bruised tailbone and starting split end Donald Driver banged up, Ferguson had a team-high six catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns – all career-bests – to help Green Bay rally to beat Minnesota 26-22.

“It was like a monkey was off my back,” Ferguson said. “You go through so much when you come in with high expectations. I’m not going to say I didn’t live up to the expectations, because I never really got a chance to do it. But not doing what people expect you to, that was very hard.”

The only change Ferguson is willing to acknowledge is that he’s now gained the confidence of quarterback Brett Favre, who derided him two summers ago for his inability to grasp the Packers’ complex offense.

Favre said Friday that through training camp in 2001 and the first couple of weeks of last season, “I couldn’t believe we drafted the guy.”

“I had, I mean, nothing really positive to say about him. He had talent, but he just didn’t seem like he cared. I said, ‘This guy is so far away from playing.’ But as the season progressed, he got better, worked harder, got better, worked harder. And that, I was so impressed with.”

Ferguson’s work ethic carried over into this season and finally paid off Sunday night.

“I was so happy for him the other day,” Favre said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. But I was so happy he could walk home and look in the mirror and say, ‘You know what, I finally showed them what I can do.”‘

Ferguson said he always had faith in himself and is glad his quarterback does now, too.

Green Bay receiver Robert Ferguson celebrates after catching a pass for a two-point conversion during an exhibition game against the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 30 in Green Bay, Wis.

“If the call is called and Brett don’t believe in you, you ain’t getting the ball,” Ferguson said. “I think Brett knows that if anything happens, he can count on me to make some plays for him.”

Coach Mike Sherman rolled the dice by selecting Ferguson in the second round ahead of Wisconsin’s Chris Chambers, even though Ferguson had just one season of major college experience at Texas A&M.

But Sherman said Ferguson is starting to show the promise he expected of him on draft day.

“He’s a more confident player, more aggressive player, believes in himself,” Sherman said. “Obviously, the way he played the game, our confidence (in him) certainly has got to be an at all-time high right now.”

Ferguson had a tough five-minute stretch in practice Thursday when he hurt his left pinkie on a Favre fastball, dropped another bullet pass and then twisted his left ankle.

But he was practicing with the starters and not on the “scout” team, showing how far he’s come.

As further evidence, offensive coordinator Tom Rossley pointed to Ferguson’s 40-yard touchdown catch on a post-corner route Sunday night, saying it wasn’t a play Ferguson would have made a year ago.

“He’s a talented guy, but he was playing slow,” Rossley said. “That’s the difference in him now. He’s playing faster, because I think he knows his assignment and knows what he’s doing.”

And he’s finally showing it to Favre and everybody else.