http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/235959541.html
Arlington- If somebody else hadn't mentioned it, LB Jamari Lattimore would never have mentioned that his impassioned halftime speech got his teammates so fired up that they came out expecting to overcome a 26-3 Dallas Cowboys lead Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Lattimore, who would prefer to let his play do the talking but almost always thanks reporters for stopping by his locker and asking him a few questions, had seen all he could stomach in the first half. He and DE Johnny Jolly, who was knocked out of the game early with a shoulder injury, offered some words.
But Lattimore, whose main role is to play special teams, was an unlikely orator who dug deep inside and challenged his team to respond to its most difficult challenge of the season.
"Jamari really spoke from the heart, got real emotional," NT B.J. Raji said. "I think the guys really felt him on that. I think everybody talks in their own way. But those guys stand out. Jolly was hurt early in the game and he kept encouraging us and Jamari was just letting his emotions take over."
The Packers needed something after giving up 332 first-half yards and allowing Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray to slice through them for 93 yards on 11 carries. It wasn't all the defense's fault, given the horrible offensive performance to start the game and the four times Dallas had to settle for field goals after driving into Packers territory.
But somebody had to turn this game around and Lattimore thought it should be the defense.
Little did he know, the offensive players huddled in the other half of the locker room felt his energy.
"He's on the quiet side, but we definitely could hear what he was saying on the other side and we definitely took what we heard as if he was talking to us even though he was on the other side," RB Eddie Lacy said.
"It's just part of stepping up," Lacy added. "A lot of guys are emotional. He came in and didn't like how things were going in the first half and voiced his opinion. I think it was perfect timing for him to do that."
Typical of the soft-spoken Lattimore, he preferred not to get into what his speech meant to the team.
"I don't want to speak on it," Lattimore said.
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