Sid Hartman: Favre has recovered before, and he can do it again

The Packers' Aaron Rodgers suffered his second concussion of the season on Dec. 12 and sat out a game. But he came back Sunday and completed 25 of 37 passes for 404 yards and four touchdowns to lead Green Bay to a 45-17 victory over the Giants, keeping the Packers' playoff hopes alive.

So one can speculate about what Brett Favre will be able to do with two extra days of rest. The Vikings quarterback could surprise everybody and be in the lineup for a second consecutive week when his team finally plays at Philadelphia on Tuesday -- just like he did a week ago, when he was originally listed as out for the game against Chicago at TCF Bank Stadium, only to return to the starting lineup after missing one week.

Favre left Monday's game against the Bears after suffering a concussion in the second quarter, and the Vikings had listed him as doubtful for the game that was to be played Sunday night before it was postponed due to a snowstorm, the Vikings' second postponement in three weeks.

I know that Favre wants to end his career by playing in his last two games, against the Eagles and the Lions -- who incidentally have won three consecutive games and could be in a position to beat the Vikings for only the third time in 23 meetings Sunday at Ford Field.

Favre didn't practice last week, but that won't necessarily keep him out, because he didn't practice the week of the Bears game either due to a shoulder injury, only to feel good enough on Monday to play. Look for the same type of decision to be made Tuesday, although I realize a concussion is a more serious problem that the shoulder injury that sidelined Favre for the game against the Giants in Detroit.

Favre has battled injuries all year at age 41, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him play Tuesday.

Nothing but speculationESPN's Chris Mortensen is speculating that the Vikings will play their 2011 season at TCF Bank Stadium.

Robert Bruininks, the outgoing president of the University of Minnesota, and Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi have made it clear that their stadium would be available to the Vikings only in an emergency, like the one that developed when the Metrodome roof collapsed Dec. 12 after the big blizzard that hit Minnesota.

I am sure you will hear a lot of speculation about the Vikings playing future games at the Gophers' stadium. However, Maturi made it clear that the stadium is for football played by the Gophers and not the Vikings, unless another emergency develops.

Bruininks agreed with Maturi: "I don't think it'd work," he said of the Vikings playing at TCF Bank Stadium on a regular basis.

"We actually worked hard together on a joint stadium concept and came to the conclusion that the economic model didn't work really well for the Vikings, and it was very difficult to manage on a university campus because we have a lot of other athletic venues and also students, thousands of students coming in the evening to study," Bruininks said last week. "So we want to be a good partner. Personally, I'd like to see the Vikings get their stadium rebuilt and have it as a strong amenity in our community, but I don't think in the long haul it will work really well. It's not impossible, nothing is impossible. I don't think it's the best solution."

Can repair roofThe Metrodome has a total of 106 panels. According to Bill Lester -- the executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which runs the Dome -- only nine of the panels are damaged and the rest are in good shape.

Lester expected to have a better idea by the end of the week about the timetable to repair the roof.

As Lester said, people are finding that the Metrodome, a building used some 300 days out of the year, is a pretty important site for the public.

It would cost about $15 million to completely replace the roof and install a new one. And why would you do that when the Vikings don't have a lease after next year, don't want to stay at the Metrodome and, unless they get a new stadium, might have a new address after 2011? The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission has a reserve of some $11 million, so it doesn't have the means to pay for a new roof right now anyway.

Clinched in PhillyWith the Vikings set to play at Philadelphia, former coach Bud Grant and trainer Fred Zamberletti recalled the team clinching its first division title in 1968 by beating the Eagles in the City of Brotherly Love.

For the Vikings to win the NFL Central Division, they had to beat the Eagles on Dec. 15 and the Packers had to beat the Bears in a late game that same day. After the Vikings won 24-17 to finish an 8-6 season, a phone call to Chicago meant they could listen to play-by-play of that game on the radio, with one person describing what was going on to the rest of the team. Green Bay held on for a 28-27 victory, meaning the Vikings could celebrate.

Jottings• Former Gophers running back Marion Barber III had his best game of the season in the Cowboys' 27-26 loss to the Cardinals on Saturday. He ran eight times for a season-high 58 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Barber has been hampered by leg injuries this season, and his touchdown was just the fourth after he averaged 9.8 TDs a season in his first five years with Dallas.

• The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported Notre Dame receiver Michael Floyd requested the NFL evaluate his draft potential. Floyd, a junior and former Cretin-Derham Hall standout, is ranked as the 82nd-best prospect in college football by ESPN.com and the 10th-best potential receiver in the 2011 draft. He is Notre Dame's leading receiver with 73 receptions for 916 yards and 10 touchdowns; the Irish play Miami (Fla.) in the Sun Bowl on Friday.