Day@Camp: A daily dispatch from Mankato

By Judd Zulgad

Last update: July 31, 2007 - 9:03 PM

Unacceptable

How bad did the Vikings offense look at times during a 45-minute live-hitting portion of practice Tuesday inside Blakeslee Stadium? Bad enough that normally mild-mannered offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell lost his cool at one point. That came when rookie running back Adrian Peterson failed to hold onto a handoff from quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. "Clean it up! Clean it up!" Bevell said loud enough for everyone in the stadium to hear. "This is base football."

Worry not

In his second day of practice, Peterson took the first big hit to his healing, or perhaps more accurately, healed left collarbone. The play occurred during the live period when Peterson caught a pass from Jackson and quickly was brought down by four defenders. The Vikings' first-round pick got right up and appeared to be fine. Peterson broke his collarbone last season while playing for Oklahoma and reinjured it Jan. 1 in the Fiesta Bowl. The Vikings have done their best to downplay any concerns about Peterson's health but he is wearing a protective pad inside his uniform.

Q|Q

QUARTERBACK QUANDARY

Snippets from the quarterback transition

Jackson had a day that he would just as soon forget: interceptions, dropped exchanges with center Matt Birk, the dropped handoff with Peterson. Not much good happened for the second-year quarterback.

Clearly, Jackson still is trying to make the adjustment to operating while under pressure. Safety Dwight Smith and rookie cornerback Marcus McCauley both took advantage of this Tuesday by making interceptions.

Jackson also looked shaky at times early in practice during a blitz drill, struggling to find receivers as pressure was applied. In fairness, Brooks Bollinger, who did some rare work with the first unit Tuesday during a 9-on-7 drill, also struggled at times as pressure was being applied.

INJURY REPORT

DE Erasmus James (knee). On Physically Unable to Perform list.

WR Todd Lowber (muscle strain). Missed practice Tuesday; day-to-day.

RB Wendell Mathis (muscle tightness). Missed practice Tuesday; day-to-day.

LT Bryant McKinnie (hamstring). Expected to come off the non-football injury (NFI) list today and practice.

WR Billy McMullen (strained calf). On NFI list; day-to-day.