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Before joining our Access Vikings team, Dan Wiederer covered Atlantic Coast Conference basketball for the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer and was named North Carolina's top sports columnist in 2010. His previous reporting experience includes covering the Chicago Bears. Follow him on Twitter @StribDW.
Mark Craig has covered football and the NFL the past 20 years, including the Browns from 1991-95 and the Vikings and the NFL since 2003. Since 2008, Craig has served as one of the 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors. He can be followed on Twitter at @markcraignfl.
Saints' approach didn't please Childress
Posted by: under Vikings, NFC, Super Bowl, Brad Childress, Darrell Bevell, Brad Childress, Brett Favre, Darrell Bevell, Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell, Sage Rosenfels, Steve Hutchinson, Tarvaris Jackson, Vikings training camp Updated: August 18, 2010 - 4:26 PM
There was plenty of talk following the Vikings' overtime loss to New Orleans in the NFC title game last season about the abuse that quarterback Brett Favre absorbed at the hands of the Saints defense. But for the first time on Wednesday, Vikings coach Brad Childress made it clear he wasn't pleased with what happened to Favre.
"He knows there somewhere he’s going to get knocked on his keister," Childress said when asked about Favre taking more shots this season. "That’s going to happen. As long as we’re doing it within the spirit of the rules, he’s all good with it and I’m all good with it. In terms of not doing it that way, hey, everybody talks about hitting the quarterback. Let’s just hit him the right way."
Asked if he though Favre was unduly punished against the Saints, Childress said: "In my opinion, yeah."
It will be interesting to see what comes of that given that the Saints and Vikings will meet in the regular-season opener on Sept. 9 in New Orleans. Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is unlikely to have his players back off in how they approach Favre but there is no question that the officials will be ready to call any fouls they see against either quarterback.
A few other items from Childress' news conference and one interesting quote from Tarvaris Jackson.
- Childress refused to confirm that Favre's base pay for this season had been raised from $13 million to $16.5 million with the chance he will make $20 million if the Vikings reach the Super Bowl. "Just like everybody else's contract, I'm not speaking to that," Childress said.
- With Favre back, the No. 2 reps went to Tarvaris Jackson, the No. 3 reps went to Sage Rosenfels and Joe Webb fell to fourth on the depth chart. Rosenfels is due to make $2.6 million this season, a high salary for a No. 3 QB. "Sage and I talked about what his lot in life is," Childress said. "He told me what his feelings were and in a perfect world what would happen to him. I told him I don’t have any pre-conceived notions about anything right now." It would not be surprising if the Vikings shop Rosenfels.
- Childress said that if Favre did not return with Jared Allen, Steve Hutchinson and Ryan Longwell on Tuesday that the Vikings were set to move on with Jackson as their starter. Was that really true? "Absolutely," Childress said. "I had that conversation with Tarvaris this morning. Hard on that guy. But he’s prepared. He’s ready to go. And you know what? We don’t know if he has to play a game, a quarter or a half, or a game or six games. He’s come miles in his four years. He’s had by all indicators a very good training camp. Obviously, Sage had a very good first game. Yeah, we were prepared to do that."
- Childress deserves credit for apologizing for putting offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and special teams coordinator Brian Murphy in front of reporters Tuesday to attempt to answer questions about where Allen, Hutchinson and Longwell were during practice. Bevell and Murphy were not given the OK to tell the truth and ended up looking bad when they said the trio was inside Winter Park. "I shouldn't have done that," Childress said.
- Jackson has handled the way he has been treated with nothing but class. However, judging from his quotes Wednesday it appears he's getting a bit tired of the situation and the fact three of his teammates recruited Favre to return. “I worked hard but everybody is entitled to do whatever they please," Jackson said. "That situation, I just have to deal with it. Not too much to say. I’m not saying I’m happy the guys went down there, but it’s their prerogative. Those guys chose to go down there and try to get him to come back. That’s what they did. I just have to live with it.”
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