Winfield remains optimistic

Cornerback Antoine Winfield continued to dispute reports that he will miss a month because of an injury to his right foot. Making his weekly appearance today on KFAN Radio, Winfield again said he was day-to-day and indicated he could return as early as Sunday when the Vikings play at Green Bay.

"A month? No, no," Winfield said when asked about missing time by host Paul Allen. "That's too long. I'm day-to-day. If there's a chance for me to get out there Sunday, I will be out there."

Winfield was at Winter Park this morning receiving treatment on his foot. "I'm working as hard as I can [and doing] whatever I have to do to get back on the field," he said.

However, as Allen pointed out, Winfield wouldn't be doing himself any favors by rushing back and doing more damage. "We are definitely going to be smart about it," Winfield said. "If I'm not close to where I need to be to play in the game I probably won't be out there. ... We still have a lot of games left. I want to be right, I don't want to do anything else further that would keep me out anymore games."

Winfield remained in a walking boot Sunday but said he had gotten rid of the crutches he was using at mid-week. Just like other NFL teams, the Vikings attempt to guard injury information very closely because of the potential competitive advantage opponents can get for game-planning purposes if they know a certain player is out.

That's why there is a good chance that Winfield is simply going along with company line that he might play when indeed there is a good chance he won't be back on the field until after the Vikings bye week. That will follow the Green Bay game. In these situations, it's always hard to tell because a guy like Winfield is extremely competitive and does have a high pain tolerance.

Winfield isn't the only injured starter the Vikings are going to need to worry about this week. Wide receiver Bernard Berrian suffered what appeared to be a left hamstring injury on Sunday and did not play in the second half.