Childress looks at 4 punters

By JUDD ZULGAD, Star Tribune

Last update: October 8, 2008 - 9:45 PM

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Any question about how upset Vikings coach Brad Childress was after Chris Kluwe twice failed to punt the ball out of bounds Monday night in New Orleans was answered Wednesday.

As the Vikings ended practice, four free-agent punters emerged to begin trying out under the watchful eyes of Childress and others. The list included Adam Crossett (Missouri), Glenn Pakulak (Kentucky), Sam Paulescu (Oregon State) and Ryan Plackemeier (Wake Forest).

Plackemeier is the most notable, having spent the past two seasons as Seattle's punter before being released.

It was unclear whether these tryouts presented a legitimate threat to Kluwe's roster spot or were meant as more of a wake-up call. Kluwe said earlier Wednesday that he met with Childress in the morning and the two discussed what happened in the Vikings' 30-27 victory.

''I guess it was productive,'' Kluwe said of the discussion. ''Basically he was just saying, 'We need you to kick it out of bounds,' and I was trying to let him know sometimes it doesn't go out of bounds.' ''

The problems started after the Saints' Reggie Bush returned a third-quarter punt 71 yards for a touchdown. Kluwe was then told to start kicking out of bounds. That did not happen and Bush nearly went for another score before tripping up at the Vikings 49. In the fourth quarter, Bush had a 64-yard return for a score.

Childress and Kluwe were seen exchanging words on the sideline. After the game Childress did not mask his anger saying, ''If he can't do that, I will find somebody who can kick the ball out of bounds.''

Kluwe, who received an $8.3 million, six-year contract extension last season that made him one of the 10 highest-paid punters in the NFL, said has been working on punting out of bounds and that he was trying to obey the orders Monday. He led the league last season with 19 punts that landed out of bounds.

Asked if he was worried that mistakes like the ones he made Monday could cost him his job, Kluwe said: ''I'm pretty confident in what I can do. I think I I've shown that I can hit the ball fairly well. If he feels like that he needs someone else to come in, then he's the head coach, that's his job.''