Patrick Reusse: Everyone always trying to size up tackle McKinnie

There is an anecdote told by people who have been around the Vikings for several years. The characters involved were David Dixon, the mammoth right guard, and Korey Stringer, the late, great and also mammoth right tackle.

Dixon came from New Zealand and was affable by nature. Early in his career, the Vikings felt some frustration at Dixon's lack of a mean streak, even on the field.

Stringer was overheard in the locker room addressing the issue thusly: "David, I'm sure you were always the biggest and your mom always said, 'Play nice with the other kids.' But that stuff is over now. You got to start messin' fools up."

Dixon took this to heart and became a large asset to the Vikings' offensive line.

Bryant McKinnie is already that -- a large asset to the Vikings -- but two regimes of coaches have had moments when they would like to get more of a rise out of the left tackle.

Mike Tice and his assistants could bellow at McKinnie on the practice field, and Brad Childress' crew can do the same, but he remains largely unflappable. He's not as interested in outward displays of emotion as in trying to execute the next play.

McKinnie was the No. 7 overall choice to the Vikings in 2002. Owner Red McCombs was in full miser mode and took half of his rookie season to get McKinnie signed.

He was in the starting lineup one week after being activated, and has remained there -- 76 consecutive starts at left tackle.

At the end of the September, the Vikings fell to 1-3 with a loss to Green Bay. McKinnie received more public heat than anyone for the inability to protect veteran Kelly Holcomb, a stationary target at quarterback.

The Vikings followed that Metrodome loss with a bye week, then Sunday's trip to Chicago, where rookie Adrian Peterson took extraordinary advantage of considerable open space for three long touchdowns and 224 yards rushing against the Bears.

McKinnie had a dominant afternoon against right end Mark Anderson. Early Monday, McKinnie was sought by position coach Pat Morris, who came to offer praise.

McKinnie was asked Wednesday for his reaction to the past two games -- criticism after one, tribute after the other.

He shrugged. Life in the NFL? "Probably so," he said.

McKinnie said he sensed an attitude adjustment during the bye week that the players might have achieved independently. "The week off seemed to get everyone's mind right," he said.

There was also the advantage of playing a Chicago defense that has a straightforward, non-blitzing style. If everyone handles the Bear in his area, you're going to move the ball.

"Once we got the running game going, that made things a lot easier," McKinnie said. "Adrian takes off on a couple of those long runs, the defense isn't going to come as hard. The play action slows them down, a lot."

McKinnie played Sunday's game with a broken left hand. He was receiving treatment on the hand for 45 minutes before Wednesday's practice.

"I broke it in the Green Bay game," he said. "I had food poisoning, too. Not a good day."

Coach Brad Childress was asked this during Wednesday media session: "What did you see from Mc-Kinnie? Will it quiet the critics?"

Childress said: "I always say, 'It's body of work.' Some weeks guys are going to play a little better than others. I also look at circumstances, whether a guy can play the run equally as well as the pass ...

"It will be hard this week, if we get into a bunch of must-pass situations ... a player like DeMarcus Ware is going to athletically break down a tackle like that."

Ware is the right outside linebacker and pass-rushing specialist in Dallas' 3-4 defense. Childress was suggesting that when the Vikings are second-and-11 or third-and-6, there isn't much the 6-8, 335-pound Mc-Kinnie can do to prevent speed rushers such as Ware or Green Bay's Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila from taking the circle route around him.

Then again, if Adrian Peterson's average Sunday is going to be half of what we saw in Chicago, the right-side rushers will be taking an extra peek at the play-action, allowing McKinnie to get to them.

When that happens, they figure to wind up like the Bears' Anderson: pummeled.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com