Coach relents a bit about odd, costly call

Hours after seething about a call by referee Bill Leavy in the Vikings' 32-21 loss Sunday night to Washington, Brad Childress admitted Monday he was no longer positive a mistake had been made.

The Vikings coach said he talked to NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira after the game and again Monday morning about the bizarre sequence that occurred in the fourth quarter that resulted in Minnesota being called for too many men on the field.

With the Vikings trailing 25-14, Redskins receiver Santana Moss caught a 23-yard pass near the sideline at the Washington 47. It appeared as if Moss might have failed to get his left foot in bounds, causing Childress to turn his attention to the Metrodome's replay board in order to see whether he wanted to challenge the call.

The Redskins quickly ran a play -- negating Childress' ability to challenge -- but quarterback Todd Collins fumbled the snap and defensive tackle Kevin Williams recovered with 8 minutes, 59 seconds left.

And then things got really interesting.

Redskins coach Joe Gibbs challenged because the Vikings had 12 men on the field when the ball was snapped. Childress was irate, claiming the Redskins had substituted personnel and under NFL rules officials must allow teams to match another's team's substitution.

Childress could be seen showing Leavy a Polaroid shot on the sideline as he stated his case that the Vikings had not been given sufficient time. The argument didn't get him far.

Leavy's ruling penalized the Vikings for too many men -- a call that can be made on a challenge -- and Washington retained the ball at the Vikings 48. Running back Clinton Portis scored seven plays later to give the Redskins a 32-14 lead.

Childress had cooled down by Monday and admitted that although Washington had changed its personnel grouping from the previous play, he was no longer certain the Redskins had substituted.

"I'm still having trouble finding out who the [Redskins] receiver was on the bottom of the page, on the field closest to us," Childress said, "but it looked like they had the same fullback and a tight end in the game in a spread-out alignment, and we got a nickel call over the phone so we were trying to sub in a rush defensive lineman, and that's how we got caught with the 12."

Television replays indicated Washington did not sub and the receiver Childress is referring to was Antwaan Randle El on both occasions. Childress had viewed the coaches' film by Monday afternoon but said he wanted to see the television copy of the game before making his final decision; Pereira, meanwhile, had watched the TV copy but is awaiting the coaches' film. "Until I see all the shots I'm not going to say," Pereira said.

Etc.

• Childress said receiver Sidney Rice (ankle sprain), cornerback Antoine Winfield (strained pectoral muscle) and linebacker Dontarrious Thomas (groin) all were improved after sitting out Sunday. Winfield said Monday on KFAN Radio that his chances of playing Sunday at Denver are "pretty good," adding: "The only thing right now is me getting my strength back. I've got my range of motion. I'd probably say a good 90 percent."

• Linebacker Vinny Ciurciu, who suffered a sprained ankle playing special teams Sunday, will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.

• Players were given Monday and today off and will begin preparations for the Denver game Wednesday.

• Vikings tight end Jim Kleinsasser's 2-yard touchdown catch was his seventh career TD but first in 49 games. He last scored a touchdown Dec. 20, 2003, vs. Kansas City.

• Adrian Peterson didn't see as much playing time in the second half Sunday in large part because the Vikings remain more comfortable with Chester Taylor playing in passing situations.

"We were mindful of the fact that [the Redskins] can give you a bunch of exotic blitzes, which they had early," Childress said. "So we just felt Chester was the best option there in terms of seeing the blitz pickups the best.''