Vikings coach Brad Childress has said on many occasions that he has pulled one of his players aside and talked to them before a game he thinks might be emotional for them. This might include a guy going to his hometown for the first time to play or playing against his former team.

So what does Childress do when one of his guys spent 16 seasons with a team that now happens to be the Vikings' division rival? We're about to find out. Childress said today that he is sure he will have his usual conversation with Brett Favre before the quarterback faces the Packers on Monday night.

Childress said he realizes Favre might feel some emotions before the game but his hope is that when the game starts Favre has a "serial-killer mentality."

"It usually all stops after pregame handshakes and that type of thing," Childress said of his expectations for Favre's mental state. "Then it gets to being X's and O's out there and scheme. Can you get a tell? Is somebody showing you something? You can't help but knowing personnel, knowing pluses and minuses about people. You just have to make sure that that's not the overriding factor. Then again it comes back to the scheme and playing within the scheme. He'll have enough opportunities to make those off-schedule plays, off-schedule throws on his own. And then trusting the people that are around you. He's an emotional guy and I'm sure there will be a wave of emotion before the game and then kind of hopefully a cold, kind of a serial-killer mentality when the game starts."

Favre paused for a moment when asked about having the mentality of a serial killer.

"Serial killer mentality?" Favre said. "I don't know if I would have put it that way, but I just want to play the way I played last week [against San Francisco]. With a few more improvements. There are a few plays that I could have made last week. ... I don't know how many games I've played in, but this game is no different than the fourth game I played in last year. In reality, this is a Monday night game. Yeah, that's the only game playing and there is more excitement because of that game, but you can't treat it any differently. Trying to keep your emotions in check any time is part of it."

As for Favre's physical well-being, that is another matter. He took a pounding last Sunday against the 49ers. "I've never been as beat after a game as I was the other day," Favre said. "I had nothing left, so that had a lot to do with how I felt."