Ponder officially gets starting nod as Vikings quarterback

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier announced Christian Ponder will start against the Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

Frazier made the decision public on Friday, although he knew Ponder would start earlier in the week. Ponder took first team reps throughout the week during the open portion of practice and did not participate after practice in team sessions with the second team.

Frazier said he chose Ponder because he felt the Dallas native would give the Vikings the best chance to win, but he didn't commit to Ponder at quarterback beyond Sunday's game. Ponder played at Colleyville Heritage High in Colleyville, Texas, about 20 minutes away from AT&T Stadium.

"You're hoping that a guy will have a great game and you don't have to have these conversations going forward," Frazier said. "I'm hoping he has a great game on Sunday, and can lead us to victory and move on from there. It's just like the rest of our season, it's one game at a time for us right now."

Frazier said he has an idea on who will back up Ponder, but he didn't make it official. Matt Cassel was the backup last week against the Packers while Josh Freeman, recovering from post-concussion symptoms, was inactive for the 44-31 loss.

"I told them earlier in the week how we were going to approach it and we talked about it rep-wise as well, so they have an idea but I want to confirm it after this practice," Frazier said.

Injury report

The absence of Cook and Sanford gives the Vikings a thin secondary against quarterback Tony Romo. Frazier didn't announce any moves, but he'll likely bring up rookie safety Brandan Bishop from the practice squad with just three active safeties on the roster.

Andrew Sendejo and Mistral Raymond will be the starting safeties, while Frazier hasn't decided who will start with Josh Robinson at corner.

"Those guys have all practiced well this week so we've just got to make a decision which guy you want to start opposite Josh," Frazier said.