FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Is it me, or could only a Viking turn the Pro Bowl festival into the fiasco that Bryant McKinnie has created this week?
The first-time Pro Bowler missed a second consecutive practice this morning, and there's a feeling on the team that he either won't play or will be sent home because he hasn't been around enough to know the NFC offense, even as basic as a Pro Bowl offense typically is.
There's also a feeling of anger amongst teammates that McKinnie has thumbed his nose at the Pro Bowl requirements while Tweeting about his nightly partying.
"I can't speak for him," Giants tackle David Diehl told me. "All I can speak for is me. I was here for everything. I was prepared and I'm ready to go. I'll be ready to go tomorrow night."
Diehl, whose team didn't make the playoffs, might have to play the entire Pro Bowl because of McKinnie. There are only three offensive tackles on the team, and McKinnie was slated to play some at right tackle and possibly some at his normal left tackle position.
McKinnie has shown up for only one meeting and one of the four practices this week. He even missed the team picture.
Offensive line coach Hudson Houck said it's possible McKinnie could play, but added that he would need a lot of help from the guard next to him in order to understand the blocking schemes.
"It also depends on whether he even wants to play,"Houck told me at the team hotel today. "I don't know."
