Childress has new gear to manage noise

Vikings coach Brad Childress has sported a different-looking headset on the sideline, and one that bears little resemblance to the traditional Motorola headphones coaches are supposed to wear.

The NFL has inquired about the issue, but Childress, 53, has a very good reason for making the change. "I have a hearing deficiency," he said Friday. "You know the Americans with Disability law? ... I've gotten notes from the league on it and had somebody write an e-mail back to Ray Anderson [the NFL's executive vice president of football operations] to let him know. I'm not trying to circumvent anything. I'm just trying to hear."

Childress' problem was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. "They are testing your hearing and they said, 'Well, you've got some things. Are you ever around any loud crowd noise?' " Childress said. "I said, 'How about for the last 30 years.' "

Childress' new headset, which for lack of a better explanation looks like one a rock star might wear on stage, was designed by the Starkey Hearing Foundation in Eden Prairie. "[The device] goes right in my ear and stops the sound," Childress said.

Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was asked after Friday's practice about ESPN's report this week that Brett Favre's arrival had caused a "schism" in the locker room about who should start.

"I don't listen to that stuff because we all know the decision has been made as far as the leader of our team and quarterback position," Jackson said. "Everybody is pretty much behind him and trying to support him and trying to get him caught up with everything we're trying to do around here as far as the offense goes. But there's not too much he has to learn because he's been in this offense a long, long time. Probably just as long as I've been living. I'm just supporting him and trying to get better myself. Just trying to watch him and ask as many questions as possible."

Jackson, by the way, was 8 when Favre entered the NFL in 1991.

Wide receiver Bernard Berrian said he's not able to practice fully because of a hamstring injury and isn't sure whether he will play Monday night in Houston. Childress said Berrian is "progressing" and has a chance of playing.

"I'm definitely feeling better," said Berrian, who was injured in the Vikings' preseason opener at Indianapolis on Aug. 14.

The Vikings need to get Berrian back on the field so that he can start to get his timing down with Favre. Berrian catches passes from Favre before practice, but that's not anywhere close to game conditions.

"It's definitely got to be full speed so the two of us can get that down," Berrian said. "It's more than full speed. It's got to be against defenders. Running straight, obviously anybody can do that. But once you get to live action and you're going against people, that's where you start to get your timing down."

Berrian has been able to do some work in practice this week during individual drills.

The Vikings were originally scheduled to begin practice around 1:30 p.m. three days this week, but each session was moved to a morning start. A report Thursday said that was because Favre got the times changed, but Childress said Friday he made the adjustment after talking to his veteran leadership council. Favre is a member of that group.

"He's been through a bunch of different schedules," Childress said. "The one we are most used to is the one that kind of came out of the West Coast playbook. You practice at 1 you play at 1. You play at 1, you practice at 1. I'm just fooling around with getting them in here, keeping it fresh. Morning, afternoon, getting them out of the building earlier. We'll see where we end up going. I'm having a feeling it's going to end up going back to the other way just because there are some other scheduling issues."

• Wide receiver Glenn Holt, who was placed on waivers by the Vikings on Thursday, was claimed by the Lions on Friday.