Faulty footing doesn't stop Longwell

Ryan Longwell's 54-yard field goal in Sunday's 30-12 victory against the Jaguars was the longest in the 14-year history of Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. What made it all the more impressive was that the field was in such poor shape, workers began ripping out the sod an hour after the game.

The sod had become so worn in the middle of the field that workers filled it in with sand last week. That, however, made the surface extremely slippery for kickers. Long-well, a 12-year veteran, said it was the worst field conditions he's seen in a game that wasn't affected by weather.

"Just total sand pit," the Vikings kicker said. "It made those field goals and extra points and especially kicking off, made it really difficult to keep your footing. Just to judge how far your foot is going to slide and try to compensate for that before it happened, it made things a little more exciting than they needed to be on a beautiful Florida day."

It also forced Longwell and holder Chris Kluwe to get creative on the 54-yarder in the first quarter. Longwell said the field had a "four-inch deep gouge" where his plant foot was supposed to be.

"We actually moved Kluwe's spot about six inches to one side of it so I could have the spot on one side of the gouge in the ground and have my plant foot on the other side," he said. "I told Kluwe before the kick, 'I don't know if this is going to work, but we'll try it.' It worked. I got a good enough hit on the ball to get it there."

Vikings coach Brad Childress said right tackle Artis Hicks had an MRI on his right arm Monday, but Childress did not have the results when he met with reporters. Childress said Hicks "strained something in there" in the fourth quarter Sunday.

Hicks, who made his first start at right tackle in place of benched starter Ryan Cook, missed 16 snaps after leaving the game but could have returned, according to Childress.

"We just didn't think there was any reason to bring him back," Childress said. "So I thought he did a pretty good job there. He competed very well. The communication between he and [right guard Anthony] Herrera was very good. They passed off a couple of line games that were tough stunts to pick up and did a decent job at the run game. I expect him to do better next time."

Hicks suffered a right elbow injury in the season opener against Green Bay as the starting left tackle. It's unclear if this latest injury is related to that one.

Veteran tight end Visanthe Shiancoe agreed that Childress' decision to sit running back Adrian Peterson and cornerback Cedric Griffin sent the proper message to the team. The two were late to a team meeting Saturday. Peterson sat out the opening two series and Griffin sat out the first defensive series, which took only one play because the Vikings scored off a Jaguars turnover.

"That's Brad kind of tightening us up a little bit," Shiancoe said. "We have to have some discipline here and that's what Brad did. He established that discipline and everybody has to walk that straight line because one thing can affect everybody. That's pretty good that he took charge like that."

• For the second consecutive season, the Vikings will wear "throwback" uniforms and helmets from the 1970s in a game against a divisional foe. Last season, the Vikings wore the "throwbacks" against Green Bay and this time they will don the look from yesteryear Sunday against the Bears. The Vikings also will hold their annual alumni weekend and induct former defensive tackle John Randle into the Ring of Honor on Sunday.