McKinnie trial date set; pretrial talks continue

Vikings tackle Bryant McKinnie is scheduled to stand trial March 16 on four charges he faces from his involvement in a fight outside a Miami nightclub in February. However, McKinnie's attorney still is hoping to get his client into a pretrial diversion program that could see the charges dropped if he meets certain conditions.

A Florida judge set the trial date Tuesday as talks between attorney Larry Kerr and the prosecution continue. "Those discussions are still ongoing and nothing at all has been foreclosed," Kerr said.

McKinnie, who was not required to attend the hearing, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including a felony for battery. He already has been punished by the league for the incident, drawing a four-game suspension to open the season for violating the league's personal conduct policy.

If an agreement to get McKinnie into a pretrial diversion program isn't agreed upon, there will be a status conference March 5 and the trial will follow. If that happens, Kerr said: "I'm confident and comfortable with our case."

Turns out Vikings vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman wasn't the only team executive to receive a contract extension last spring. Rob Brzezinski, the team's vice president of football operations, also was rewarded with a three-year extension, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Brzezinski, who is in his 10th season with the Vikings and handles the administrative and financial side of football operations, previously had signed a three-year contract in January 2006.

Jared Allen was in New York on Tuesday to meet with NFL officials to discuss his recent hits on Houston quarterback Matt Schaub and Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

The NFL fined the Vikings defensive end $50,000 for two low hits on Schaub on Nov. 2. A week later Allen was called for a roughing-the-passer penalty on Rodgers. It's unclear if Allen could be facing another fine or perhaps even a suspension. Allen had little to say after the Vikings' loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday about the subject but he did talk to Fox's Jay Glazer about the hearing.

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

Allen isn't the first player to be summoned to New York to explain his actions this season as the league has cracked down on hits by defenders. New England nose tackle Vince Wilfork met with Commissioner Roger Goodell in October regarding a hit on Denver quarterback Jay Cutler. Wilfork was fined but not suspended.

Coach Brad Childress defended the team's play-calling after running back Adrian Peterson did not touch the ball in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 19-13 loss to Tampa Bay.

Childress said part of the problem was that the Vikings ran only seven offensive plays and held the ball for 2 minutes, 26 seconds in the fourth quarter.

"There's a limited amount of time, and you're playing a different kind of football, generally, with the 2 1/2 minutes we had in the fourth quarter," he said. "[You have to] be smart handing him the football, and there's only a limited number of ways you can get it to him throwing. They play in a defense that kind of legislates against throwing it deep on them. I think the biggest thing would have been to be able to get it back, regain a little rhythm, hold onto it and make some first downs."

Quarterback Gus Frerotte also said the situation dictated the play-calling.

"At one point we get the ball with [3:23] left in the fourth quarter and have to go into a two-minute drill," he said. "We don't get to run it like we wanted to. The first half was definitely different than the second half. We didn't get to pound Adrian like we want to at the end of the game."

Peterson rushed for 71 yards on 13 carries in the first half. He finished with 85 rushing yards on 19 carries.

• Former Tampa Bay and Denver safety John Lynch will make his debut as an analyst Sunday working the Vikings-Jaguars game for Fox. Lynch is scheduled to work a minimum of two games for Fox this season.