Vikings: Second-rounder signs; Peterson still out

MANKATO - Receiver Sidney Rice missed the opening day of Vikings training camp practices Friday, but that will be it for him in terms of absences. First-round running back Adrian Peterson is another story.

Rice, the Vikings' second-round pick, agreed to a four-year contract Friday evening and immediately reported to the Gage Center dormitory, where the team stays on the Minnesota State Mankato campus.

Rice's agent, Eric Metz, declined to provide financial details of his client's contract, but receiver Dwayne Jarrett, taken one pick after Rice at No. 45 overall, reportedly received a four-year, $3.825 million deal from Carolina that included $1.935 million in guaranteed bonuses and incentives.

Meanwhile, talks between Peterson's agent, Ben Dogra, and the Vikings continued Friday. Dogra did not return messages seeking comment.

Rice should very much be in the mix today when he takes the field. On Friday, fifth-round selection Aundrae Allison found himself as the third receiver in many packages and took reps that likely would have gone to Rice. Vikings coach Brad Childress was blunt when asked about the missing draft picks after the morning practice, saying, "My best advice to them would be to get their tails in camp."

A good start

Linebacker Chad Greenway, who missed all of his rookie season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the exhibition opener last year, was back on the field Friday. The 2006 first-round pick has been ready to go for several months and took part in all of the Vikings' offseason program. The plan is for him to start on the weak side.

"I think it went really well," Greenway said of his first two practices. "I made a couple mental mistakes here and there, but that's going to happen. For me, it's just [getting] out here and getting more reps."

Childress also was happy with what he saw. "He had no pause about him," Childress said. "There is no hesitation. ... I don't see anything that he is holding back from at all. He might be a little over aggressive right now just because he is happy to be out there."

On the shelf

Veteran left tackle Bryant McKinnie doesn't know how long he will be kept on the non-football injury list because of a strained hamstring suffered shortly before camp. "They haven't told me so I don't know," McKinnie said after doing work on the side during Friday's practices. "I'm just taking it day-by-day because I have no clue."

McKinnie was replaced by right guard-turned-tackle Artis Hicks. Childress said he would "hate to venture a guess" when asked about when McKinnie might return.

Also doing work off to the side was right end Erasmus James, who is coming back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament and partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. James has been placed on the physically unable to perform list. Ray Edwards and rookie Brian Robison saw action with the first-team defense Friday and both received high marks from Childress.

James, meanwhile, is confident he's making progress. "I'm moving forward and getting ready," he said. "I'm not as disappointed as I thought I would be. I know I'm doing well. I'm coming along."

James said he knows he will be ready for the season but added: "It's a process. I want to feel comfortable and not go out there and be reinjured or not be as well as I know I can be."

Etc.

• Former Vikings running back Chuck Foreman will be inducted into the team's Ring of Honor during halftime of the Sept. 30 game against Green Bay at the Metrodome. Foreman was a five-time Pro Bowl selection during his seven-year Vikings career (1973-79). The induction will cap the team's alumni reunion weekend. As part of the celebration, the Vikings will wear throwback uniforms.

Staff writer Kevin Seifert contributed to this notebook.

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com