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Viking notes: Pat Williams, Bears' Kreutz end their rift

By Kevin Seifert, Star Tribune

Last update: November 29, 2006 - 8:11 PM

While the Vikings fight a war of words with Bears quarterback Rex Grossman, another battle between the teams has ended. Vikings nose tackle Pat Williams and Bears center Olin Kreutz apparently smoothed over their relationship during a pregame chat Sept. 24 at the Metrodome.

"Everything is cool," Williams said. "We just go out there and play hard against each other."

Williams started the rivalry last season by referring to Kreutz, a five-time Pro Bowl player, as a "joke." He later said Kreutz spearheaded efforts to deny him a Pro Bowl invitation.

"I always talk about everybody," Williams said. "I go out there to have fun, but they take it serious. I don't mean any harm by it. I just have fun. I'm just trying to have fun inside the game. ... I'm just trying to make everybody talk about the game instead of negative stuff."

Injury report

Tight end Jermaine Wiggins (sprained knee) did not practice Wednesday and his availability for Sunday's game at Chicago is in doubt. Wiggins, the Vikings' second-leading receiver (37 catches), worked out in a pool Wednesday.

Meanwhile, right guard Artis Hicks (ankle) returned to practice. Coach Brad Childress planned to evaluate Hicks and right tackle Marcus Johnson (ankle) for much of this week before deciding whether they will reclaim their jobs. Otherwise, Jason Whittle (guard) and Mike Rosenthal (tackle) will start for a second consecutive week.

"I'm not as interested in who is working with who," Childress said, "as I am in being able to see them do the things we need them to do."

Etc.

•Cornerback Fred Smoot fell to the ground with obvious shoulder pain in the Vikings' 31-26 victory over Arizona, forcing the team to use a timeout with 18 seconds left. Childress said the injury was not serious. "Would have liked to see him get up and get off [the field]," Childress said. "But he's not getting treated for anything right now."

•A pretrial hearing for safety Dwight Smith, set for Wednesday morning, was continued to Jan. 10. Smith had entered a not-guilty plea on a misdemeanor charge of indecent conduct, stemming from an Aug. 26 incident in which Minneapolis police found him with a woman in a Block E stairwell.

•Approximately 1,500 tickets remain for the Dec. 17 game against the Jets. They are available through Ticketmaster.

Kevin Seifert • kseifert@startribune.com