Paymah, Allen get chances after injury sidelines Sapp

Pro Bowl cornerback Antoine Winfield was still sidelined because of a right foot injury, and his replacement in the Vikings starting lineup, Benny Sapp, left Sunday's game in the third quarter because of an injured groin.

Sapp said he just moved in a weird manner on the play on which he was hurt, and remained on the sideline doing some running. "The trainers, they know what they are doing," Sapp said. "I wanted to go back in, but the trainers were just doing their job."

With Sapp out, Karl Paymah got all the snaps at left corner and rookie Asher Allen took over as the nickel back.

"You definitely want your best players on the field," Paymah said. "It's going to be beneficial to the team knowing we don't have to rush Winfield back, and he can wait until he's fully recovered before he comes back. You have guys who are capable of stepping in whether it's me, Benny, Asher. It's a win-win situation for us."

Winfield said he hopes to play Sunday against Seattle, and Sapp said he doesn't think his injury is serious. Allen, meanwhile, has received valuable experience after being inactive for the first six games.

"Practice reps are practice reps, but when it's real and everybody is going as fast as they can, you get a better feeling," Allen said. "Guys and the coaches here helped me out a whole lot."

Rookie Percy Harvin turned in another highlight catch-and-run in the fourth quarter. Harvin caught a short pass and broke to the middle of the field, where he got belted backward by linebacker DeAndre Levy. Harvin, however, kept his balance and sprinted to the right for a 40-yard gain. Bernard Berrian helped spring him with a big block on the edge.

"Actually I didn't even see [Levy]," Harvin said. "It happened so quick I just knew I got hit and I kind of stumbled a little bit, but I really didn't see the hit coming."

Quarterback Brett Favre gushed about the play. "Nothing seems to surprise me with that guy now," he said. "He's built like a running back, he runs like a running back, and he plays like a receiver. ... The thing is about that play with Percy, as amazing as that was, I'm not surprised about it."

Linebacker Ben Leber almost always leaves the field when the Vikings bring in their nickel back in obvious passing situations. Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier tweaked that some and pulled Chad Greenway and E.J. Henderson a few times in nickel situations.

"It's something we've talked about, and we didn't get it done in the first half of the season," Frazier said. "In the bye week, we talked about, 'Let's just be intentional about getting Ben on the field' and we did a better job of it today."

Darius Reynaud returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury in Week 3. Reynaud, who was averaging 17.3 yards per punt, reclaimed the punt return job from Jaymar Johnson, who was inactive.

"I had to get the cobwebs out and was a little nervous, but it feels good to get back out there," Reynaud said.

Reynaud returned four punts for 11 yards with two fair catches.

The Metrodome turf was littered with injured Lions. Linebacker Ernie Sims, the team's best defender, was already inactive (hamstring). During the game, the Lions lost five players. Rookie safety Louis Delmas was the biggest surprise, when he had to be held out after experiencing pain in pregame warmups because of an infected tooth.

By the end of the game, the Lions were down to fourth-string free safety Marvin White because second-stringer Marquand Manuel (leg) and third-stringer Kalvin Pearson (hamstring) also were injured. Also leaving and not returning were starting right guard Stephen Peterman (ankle), receiver Derrick Williams (hip) and cornerback Jack Williams (knee).

• Fullback Naufahu Tahi appeared to injure his right ankle early in the third quarter but returned after having it taped.

• Favre, who played in his 300th consecutive game (including playoffs), improved to 25-9 against the Lions, his most victories against any team. He is 22-10 vs. Chicago.