Berrian down, but Rice sky high

PITTSBURGH - Being a good employee, Bernard Berrian refused to discuss the leg injury that kept him out for the second half Sunday in a 27-17 loss to the Steelers. However, the Vikings wide receiver didn't have to say much.

Berrian dressed slowly in the locker room with a wrap around his upper left thigh, a clear indication that he has suffered his second hamstring injury of the season. Berrian missed the final three preseason games after injuring his right hamstring in the Vikings' exhibition opener at Indianapolis.

"It was very frustrating," he said of being out for the final two quarters. "You don't like to be not out there playing, especially in a game of this magnitude. You don't want to be on the sideline watching it. It's very painful to sit there and watch a loss."

Berrian had two receptions for 18 yards Sunday and has 24 catches for 252 yards with two touchdowns. Not surprisingly, Berrian refused to speculate on how this latest setback might affect his availability for next Sunday's game against the Packers at Lambeau Field.

One receiver who will be expected to have a significant impact on that game will be Sidney Rice, who has emerged as Brett Favre's favorite target. Rice, who had his first career 100-yard receiving performance last Sunday when he caught six passes for 176 yards against Baltimore, had 11 receptions for 136 yards against the Steelers. That exceeded Rice's single-game high for receptions by five; he had two other catches wiped out by penalty, including a potential touchdown.

One of Rice's best grabs Sunday came when he went up to get an 25-yard pass on third-and-18 along the Vikings sideline and came down in bounds before being blasted by Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. Rice originally was ruled to be out of bounds but the call was reversed after a challenge by Vikings coach Brad Childress.

"It's just catches that I'm supposed to make," Rice said of a day's work. "You all don't see it every day but we work on those type of things every day in practice. Focusing on the ball, things like that and communication is big. I feel like Brett has a comfort level with all his receivers, and we just have to continue on that type of track."