Vikings rookie cornerback Chris Cook hopes to play Sunday against Green Bay after missing two games following knee surgery, but he admitted it might be a challenge to play the entire game because of his conditioning.

"I want to [play]," Cook said. "I'm taking reps with the defense and the plan is to play on Sunday." Cook has played only one game this season after tearing the meniscus in both knees. Cook was limited in practice Wednesday and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said he's interested to see how much work Cook can do Thursday. "Coming off the injury he just has some things to work through," Frazier said. "But it would great to have him out there." It seems likely that Cook will play in nickel situations with Asher Allen getting the start. Veteran Lito Sheppard played in the nickel last week but he was in coverage on three touchdown passes and now has a hand injury. "[Sheppard] just has to get more comfortable and now would be the right time to get confident in what we're doing and how we're doing it," Frazier said. "Hopefully if he's able to play this week, he will go out and perform at the level he's capable of performing at. We have a lot of confidence in him. We know he's still a very good football player." Here are other notes from media access and early practice update: -- Safety Husain Abdullah (concussion) is the only player not taking part in practice. Tight end Jim Kleinsasser (groin) returned after misssing Wednesday's practice. -- Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said last week that protection has been "up and down" and Brett Favre took several more big shots from the Cowboys. It doesn't get any easier this week against the Packers, who rank second in the NFL with 21 sacks. "We always prepare for pressure," Bevell said. "It's our job to be able to pick it up. We've had some struggles. It's something we're continuing to work on, continuing to improve and get it targeted it right. A lot goes into it. It's not always just the offensive line. Sometimes the back is involved, sometimes your receiver has to shake open and the quarterback has to see it. But it's still something we're a work in progress with." -- The Vikings had one of the NFL's best backup running backs in Chester Taylor the past few seasons. In his absence, rookie Toby Gerhart and Albert Young have combined for only 13 carries for 35 yards in the first five games. "The two guys that we have behind Adrian, they're still young, they're still learning and we're trying to get them up to speed as fast as we can," Bevell said. "We've kind of moved that around a little bit and given guys different opportunities to be in there. We're still waiting for the guys to step up, take hold of it and say, 'Hey, this is my job and I'm not giving it back.' But we're also trying to look at some different things as well." -- Special teams coordinator Brian Murphy on the possibility of using Percy Harvin on punt returns: "It will come eventually. It will be the right place at the right time for him to be back there to return punts."