Allen is saying little about big meeting

TAMPA, FLA. - Vikings defensive end Jared Allen has been called to the NFL office to explain a few of his recent hits on quarterbacks, and he could face a suspension.

Allen's visit will be Tuesday. Even if he gets a favorable outcome, his availability for this week's game at Jacksonville appears questionable because of his right shoulder injury.

Allen had his right arm in a sling as he left the locker room after Sunday's 19-13 loss to the Buccaneers.

"It's hurting really bad, to be honest with you," he said. "I'm sure it would feel a little better if we won, but it will be back to another week of rehabbing."

Asked about the specifics of the meeting with the NFL, Allen said: "I have no clue. I'll find out when I get there." He declined to comment further.

The NFL fined Allen $50,000 for two low hits on Houston quarterback Matt Schaub two weeks ago. Allen received a roughing-the-passer penalty but no fine for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers last week.

"They want me to explain what I'm thinking when I'm trying to get after the quarterback," Allen told Fox Sports. "Look, I will never, ever intentionally try to hurt anyone in this game. I have too much respect for it.

"If you look at the play with Rodgers last week, you can clearly see I totally pull up. I really hope they can see that I'm not malicious and would never intentionally injure another NFL player."

Kickoff returner Maurice Hicks said he had the ball in the wrong arm when he made a critical fumble with the Vikings trailing 16-13 with 5 minutes, 29 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Hicks had the ball in his right arm while running toward the left side.

Will Allen knocked the ball loose, and Brian Clark recovered at the Vikings 26-yard line. The Bucs took nearly two minutes off the clock before scoring the final points on a 26-yard field goal by Matt Bryant.

"I just have to protect the ball," Hicks said. "No excuses for it. I should have had it in my left hand because it was a left return. I just have to hold on to the ball. That's the bottom line."

Adrian Peterson replaced Hicks on the next kickoff and returned it 16 yards.

Defensive end Ray Edwards can probably expect a fine by the league for his late hit on quarterback Jeff Garcia in the second quarter. With the ball at the Vikings 6-yard line, Garcia scrambled to his right before throwing an incomplete pass in the end zone. Edwards drilled Garcia up high after he released the ball, drawing a roughing-the-passer penalty.

"I pulled back," Edwards said. "I ducked my head and saw he was about to let it go so I thought I got there before he let the ball go. I guess they called a flag on it. I tried to talk to him after the play, but I didn't mean to hit him after the play. I thought he still had the ball. So that's pretty much all I did."

Peterson confirmed that he was fined $5,000 by the NFL for wearing a white skull cap against the Packers last week. An NFL spokesman said Friday that he "had no information" as to whether Peterson was fined for taking off his helmet on the field in several instances. ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that Peterson actually was fined for wearing the skull cap.

Safety Madieu Williams was able to play despite being listed on the injury report as doubtful after injuring his left shoulder in special-teams practice last week when he fell down. The veteran did some contact drills in pregame warmups to test his injury before the game.

"I'm a little sore, but I feel pretty good," said Williams, who played with a protective harness and was credited with one tackle.

Tackle Ryan Cook was called for a false start in the first quarter, giving him two such penalties in the past two games.

"You're never happy with that. False start," Vikings coach Brad Childress said. "Obviously he's got that card in his deck, he's played it a few times. It's not like we haven't talked about it. But somewhere you've got to be able to control that."

Childress was asked if he might consider having Artis Hicks replace Cook.

"You know I don't even embrace anything like that in an emotional stage after a football game," Childress said. "You'd have to go back and evaluate all the tape before you do that."

The Vikings faced fourth-and-3 from their own 27-yard line with 2 minutes, 29 seconds left when Childress decided to go for it. The Vikings, who were trailing by six, failed to convert when Gus Frerotte's pass for Sidney Rice was short.

"I don't know, I mean that's not my call," Frerotte said when he was asked about going for it at that point of the game. "I'm just going out and running the plays that he called. I was a little short in throwing it to Sidney out there and so it's just something we have to watch film and get better at."

Frerotte confirmed the pass was intended for Rice and not Bobby Wade, who also was near the play. "We were expecting a certain coverage and they totally didn't play it," Frerotte said. "So it was a little off. It's just something we have to get back to the drawing board and go make plays."

Frerotte was sacked five times, equalling the five times he was sacked by the Detroit Lions on Oct. 12. Three of the sacks came in the second half, two in the fourth quarter.

"When you're in those must-throw situations at the end of a football game that is definitely going to happen," Childress said. "I think Gus was out of the pocket once; he probably could have thrown it away. But it was a good pass rush out there today. I'm not overly concerned about that. When everyone in the house knows what you're going to do, it is tough to protect."

Former Viking Chris Hovan recorded a sack and two tackles against his old team. Hovan, now a starting defensive tackle for the Bucs, was asked if beating his old team, four years after his stormy departure, still matters to him.

"I'm not going to take anything back because this is who I am right now," he said. "You go through certain tribulations in life. You grow up, you mature, and you learn how to be a man.

"I came down here, I got my life in order. I had some good years in Minnesota. I didn't go out with a great ending. That's my fault. But I look back at my time and reflect. The man I am today, I had to go through some adversity. I thank Minnesota for giving me an opportunity to start in the NFL.''

Staff writers Judd Zulgad, Chip Scoggins and Jim Souhan contributed to this notebook,