The Vikings will return to work on Wednesday after having a day off Tuesday and light workouts the previous two days. Of course, last week Childress gave his players five days off as a reward for earning a first-round bye in the playoffs.

All of that time away should benefit players both mentally and physically. Included in that group is 40-year-old quarterback Brett Favre. One of the reasons Favre has always struggled with making a decision about his future late in the year or right after the season is because he has said he is drained.

Asked about Favre during his weekly appearance on Sirius NFL Radio on Tuesday, Childress said: "I don't see any throws that he can't make right now and I do think he's fresh mentally and fresh physically. He didn't really play in the fourth quarter of that game against the Giants. He was able to get away from it for a little bit. We've been judicious in how we used him through practices and games this whole year."

Childress also was asked about Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin, who finished second on the team with 81 catches for 1,320 yards and 11 touchdowns. Austin, who was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Monmouth College in 2006, had seven catches for 82 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys' 34-14 victory over Philadelphia last Saturday in their first-round playoff game.

"I can remember him running by me with either a kickoff return or punt return [in the preseason] and he was kind of a skinny, pencil-neck kind of guy," Childress said. "You're saying, 'Who the heck is that guy running by me? Now you look at how he's changed his body around and learned about the pro game. He always had, obviously, good, physical stature [6-3, 214 pounds]. But he's really learned how to play the game. Good hand-eye [coordination] and just a physical presence as a wide receiver."