Sid Hartman: Bollinger deserves shot to start

Undoubtedly, the Vikings will set some kind of record if they start a third quarterback in as many weeks next Sunday against San Diego.

Tarvaris Jackson started last week in the loss to the Cowboys but got hurt. Kelly Holcomb was the starter Sunday in the 23-16 loss to Philadelphia and, when he got hurt, Brooks Bollinger came in midway through the third quarter. Bollinger, who was 7-for-10 for 88 yards Sunday, might end up getting his first Vikings start next week.

The Vikings' troubled quarterback situation is a major reason for the team's 2-5 record. It's a situation that has been unsettled ever since Daunte Culpepper severely injured his knee at Carolina almost exactly two years ago.

However, based on how he looked Sunday, Bollinger deserves a chance to start, and he might give the team the leadership it has lacked.

The former University of Wisconsin quarterback was naturally disappointed that he couldn't bring the Vikings back from their deficit.

"You want to go in and find a way to help the team win a football game, and you never know when it's going to happen," Bollinger said. "If it's going to be the first or the second play of the game, or the last play of the game or what, I tried to do what I could to help us win and just came up a little short."

Bollinger was playing in only his fourth game in his two seasons with the Vikings. He relieved Brad Johnson twice last year, and he entered his only other game this year in overtime when Jackson got hurt at Detroit.

While Bollinger might have a reason to complain, he won't. "I think everyone in here wants to be on the field and help the team win football games," he said. "Whatever they tell me, and whatever my role is, I'm going to execute it to the best of my ability and find my talent for this organization."

He admitted it is tough to come into the game in relief.

"Sometimes it helps because you don't have time to think, you just go in there and fling it around," he said. "But ... backup quarterback is not always an easy job. You get put in some difficult situations, but that is the job description and that is what I signed up for, and that's my job. And I need to come in and execute."

Bollinger was impressed by the Eagles defense, which is ranked ninth overall in the NFL, allowing opponents an average of 300.7 yards per game. Bollinger was sacked twice.

"We got a little momentum there and, to their credit, they just found a way to make a play in critical situations and we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times," he said. "A couple of those sacks I could have came out of, I just got arm-tackled. We had a couple of penalties that hurt us, that kept us from getting [touchdowns] and getting [field goals] instead.

"That's a tough outfit to play against for anybody in the National Football League. [Eagles defensive coordinator] Jim Johnson does a great job with them and shows a whole plethora of different looks; you don't know where they're coming from. Luckily I think it helped us out some that we were able to have a good running game and counter some of that."

Is Bollinger looking forward to the chance to start? "I'm ready and willing and able to do whatever's asked of me, and we'll see what tomorrow brings," he said.

Bollinger was a winner at Wisconsin. He had some good games in his three years with the Jets. This is a great young man. He never complains. He does his job.

I watched him have some great days in a Badgers uniform against the Gophers. The Big Ten isn't the NFL, but unless given a chance as a starter, we won't know what he can do. And he deserves an opportunity.

Rogers coached McNabb

Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers coached Donovan McNabb for four years at Syracuse and knew the Eagles made a great choice when they drafted McNabb in the first round, second overall, in 1999.

In fact one reason Vikings coach Brad Childress hired Rogers is because he saw what a well-coached quarterback McNabb was out of college when Childress was Philadelphia's quarterbacks coach.

Watching McNabb, who had knee surgery last November, complete 23 of 36 passes for 333 yards and one touchdown Sunday brought back a lot of memories for Rogers.

"I thought he looked like his old self tonight as far as moving around and doing the things that he can do," Rogers said. "It looked like he was getting back to his old self.

"I don't think he's lost anything."

Rogers said he was impressed by McNabb's ability to create plays in the pocket.

"It really gave us a lot of issues on third down," Rogers said. "He looks great, his weight's down, he looks terrific. ... He's always been a great player. He was the best player on the field when he was in college, too.

"He's the greatest quarterback I have coached," said Rogers, who has been a coach for 34 years.

Rogers did recall one game at Syracuse when McNabb didn't have one of his better days: when the 23rd-ranked Orangemen came to the Metrodome on Sept 21, 1996 and lost 35-33 to a Gophers team coached by Jim Wacker. That was McNabb's last game at the Dome before Sunday.

"We fumbled the ball twice, and the Gophers returned it twice for touchdowns," Rogers said, referring to two third-quarter scores by then-freshman Tyrone Carter. "We actually outplayed them, though, I think."

Sunday, McNabb found a lot of open receivers, showing what a difference an experienced quarterback can make.

Losing tough

Vikings safety Darren Sharper is in his 11th NFL season. He played in the Super Bowl as a rookie with the Packers but hasn't been back, and it doesn't appear that will change this year. On the Vikings' current struggles, he said: "It's hard, it's tough. You've just got to keep plugging away and hope things change. But sometimes you go through seasons like this in which things aren't going your way, but you've just got to keep fighting."

Sharper isn't impressed with playing close games. "We're still losing," he said. "That's all that matters. We're still losing. It doesn't matter if the games are close or if you get blown out, if you lose, it's still a loss at the end of the year."

What can be done to make this team a winner? "If I had answers I'd be coaching, but I'm not," he said.

Of the Eagles, Sharper said: "You knew they were going to bounce back [from last week's loss to Chicago]; there was a lot of factors for them to bounce back. They [were facing] a coach that coached them, Coach Childress ... so you know they're going to come out here and play well."

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com