MANKATO -- Sage Rosenfels insisted Friday that the whole Brett Favre situation and the fact that Rosenfels eventually might be the odd man out is something that he isn't thinking about.
However, after watching Rosenfels in the past two practices, it's pretty clear something isn't right. Rosenfels was picked off four times in the night practice on Saturday and threw two more interceptions in Sunday's single practice. He nearly had a third pass picked off but linebacker Heath Farwell could not hold onto the ball.
Vikings coach Brad Childress said after Sunday's practice that it's a double-edged sword when it comes to breaking down Rosenfels' play.
"We want [our quarterbacks] to be extremely aggressive because you want to be able to see what they can do and what the wide receiver or tight end they are throwing it to can do," Childress said. "Now, do you want them to take care of the ball with all of that said? Yeah, I don't want them to nurse it around. ... I certainly don't like the fact that he's had balls intercepted and taken the other way.
"You look to try and explain it. Is it because you are doing it just the way we asked you to and try and stick a ball out there to a guy to see where he's at? We're also asking him to play down and distance football because we don't ever practice a play that doesn't have a down or a distance on it. I would like to see the interceptions come back."
The issue for the Vikings is that they need Rosenfels to have a good camp because that could help increase his trade value. If and when Favre returns, it seems logical the Vikings would try to deal Rosenfels to a team that realizes it needs help at quarterback. Best case scenario would be for the Vikings to get a conditional draft pick for Rosenfels that would be determined by how much he played for another team.
However, if he continues to struggle in camp, and eventually in preseason games, that is going to make it tough to get much in return.
A few other items from Sunday:
