Back-Up QB Questions Test Brad Childress’ Patience

Coach Brad Childress Of Minnesota Vikings

    We finally found out what it takes to make the eternally-deadpan Brad Childress lose his patience with reporters.  Just ask him one too many questions about his back-up quarterback.
Apparently, the #2 QB situation was all reporters wanted to talk about during Chilly’s Sunday press conference (not the practice squad?).  At some point, it all got to be too much for Chilly, who dropped his familiar droning, quipping, analogizing facade for a moment and let his true exasperation leak out.
“I’m done with the backup quarterback. I’m done with it,” Chilly snapped.  “You guys, if that’s all you’ve got to write, good Lord. We’re talking about the two highest scoring offenses in the league last year playing each other. Let’s talk about the game, instead of Joe Mauer’s backup.”
The Joe Mauer line needs explaining.  Apparently, earlier in the press conference, Chilly compared the back-up quarterback role to that of a back-up catcher.  I really don’t think I need to point out the absurdity of this comparison.  If Joe Mauer gets hurt, great as he is, the Twins are still going to be contenders.  But if Brett Favre gets hurt and Tarvaris Jackson has to take the field?
I can’t even write about what that would mean.  It makes me too sick to type.
And it makes Childress sick too, which is why he doesn’t want to address it.  Basically, he is in denial.  And his defensiveness shows that, deep down, he really is nervous that the decision to trade Sage Rosenfels will blow up in his face before it’s over.
If he thought Sunday was bad, wait until something does happen to Favre, and T-Jack comes in and stinks up the place.  Then we’ll see a real barrage.  I don’t know what Chilly will do then.  Maybe tear his clothes off and howl.

Give The Gunslinger Praise Not Hate

Enough Of The Hating On Brett Favre

Go ahead. Hate me. One day you'll realize just how good I was.

  

Everyone make sure all sharp objects are locked away in a drawer somewhere. Insure that all necessary medications are up to date. Sit in a nice quiet room, breathe deeply for a few moments, and join me.
What is wrong with you people who can’t go a day without trashing Brett Favre?
The disdain and outright jealousy shown a man who already has his slot reserved for a Hall of Fame acceptance speech is not only insulting to an exceptional athlete, but reveals the truly ugly side of our sporting society.
Like it or not, Favre is a legendary player we have the good fortune to watch in action. While having a bit of humor at his expense for all the retirement frivolity, this seeming obsession with mocking him has gone way overboard and spilled into red-face bitter jealousy.
Brett Favre led the Green Bay Packers to the Super Bowl for the first time since footballs were constructed of something other than real pigskin. He was the central factor in the Packers being a dominant NFC team from 1995 to 2002, and it might have been extended were it not for Favre and mates being saddled with a pair of completely ineffective headset wearers in Ray Rhodes and Mike Sherman.
From 2003 to 2006, he did what every football fan called for. Sucked it up, didn’t whine, and kept playing despite a run of misfortune few of those gorging brats in the stands could handle if it was a video game.
His father dies of a stroke, and Favre goes out on a Monday Night and tears the guts out of the Raiders in Oakland. He still doesn’t remember throwing a touchdown pass against the Giants in 2004 after suffering what is casually called a concussion, yet is in effect a bruising of the brain tissue by jagged peaks of bone inside the skull. His brother-in-law dies in an ATV accident on Favre’s property. His wife is diagnosed with breast cancer, thankfully to later whip this insidious disease. His family home is decimated by Hurricane Katrina. He stays three more seasons in Green Bay and STILL gets the Packers to the NFC Championship Game despite team management torching the roster with key free agent defections and injuries trashing important offensive weapons.
And the guy still played the game. Gutted out the internal pain. Injuries that would have turned some other big name players into bed-wetting game day excuses.
Exactly what we demand of our stars.
After all this, once loyal fans and the dirt-digging media throws as many spades of dirt on Favre as they can muster when he hints, talks, wonders, muses, and finally retires. Plenty of other athletes break down before the cameras and we call it an “emotional moment”. Favre does it and radio talk show hosts and producers, most of whom break a monster sweat only carting their Buick sized buttocks out of chairs to snare another free drink or meal on remote broadcast, bring out baby noises, mocking dubbed audio, and sounds of bodily functions to card a cheap laugh or two at his expense. Making sport of a guy who resurrected a dismal franchise. One that before he got there only got their drunken ticket price jollies watching five Head Coaches leave a stench on Lambeau Field from 1968 to 1991.
And the gullible fans fell for it.
Note to Packers GM Ted Thompson. How’s that decision to put Favre in his place by playing foosball with his career to inflate your ego and slap Aaron Rogers at the helm? Two seasons, nine TD passes, 23 fumbles, a 17-15 record and a defense that couldn’t stop opponents with the football athleticism of Rod Blagojevich.
If Brett Favre did pull the retirement card just to make Thompson look like a rube, Packers faithful should be bowing down to him for exposing yet another black hole in the team front office.
Packers faithful, Brett Favre owes you nothing. Zero. He played his heart out for you when he was there and left only because his remaining career was questioned by a GM who hung his reputation on a below average quarterback. A General Mangler who was partly saved only because the defense buckled up in 2008 before being torched in the Arizona playoff sun.
His one season in New York and yet another retirement can be forgiven. The Jets knew Favre was playing with a torn biceps tendon in his right shoulder, yet still allowed him to go down the stretch in 2008 when they should have pulled him. While the team was dumping 4 of their last 5 games, Favre took all the heat, and not all of it deserved. Let’s not kid ourselves. Favre was getting older and the body couldn’t recover like it once could. But the Jets didn’t help with softball-tossing Kellen Clemens as the backup and Eric Mangini starring as the worst Head Coach for Gang Green since Rich Kotite.
Favre didn’t retire from the Jets. He escaped.
Which brings us to the broken down, rapidly aging, gray-haired slinger who was run out of Green Bay by a dysfunctional ownership and slipped out of NY before Mangini’s game plan and personnel decisions made him eligible for prosthetics.
Packers fans rail at Favre for joining the dastardly Vikings, proving once and for all he just wanted to leave Wisconsin in order to exact a twisted revenge against the franchise he left behind.
Favre did find a team with the right makeup and pay check to give him another solid shot at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, something he would never see in the Thompson mess. But I have no doubt he also will always look back at 2009 and consider October 5th and November 1st as highlights he’ll be watching when he’s pounding bayou caught crawfish, beer in hand and kicking back on the Mississippi porch.
So here we are for another season. Brett Favre (supposedly) has to be talked into playing one more time by a small group of teammates who traveled south and bagged themselves the prize catch they knew was their only chance to contend for a title.
The guy with the word “Most” on his NFL record resume 22 times. The only NFL QB to defeat all 32 teams in his career. Who this season will hit 70,000 passing yards in a career. And the one other teams still fear.
And the worst these jealous sycophants can do is make fun of him for wanting to win. Again. Just like he’s done his entire career.
The haters should be ashamed of themselves. At the very least have stamped on their collective foreheads "Knows Nothing About How to Appreciate Greatness".
I hope Favre gets that chance to hoist another Trophy just one more time to rub it in the faces of those who can’t stand to see one of the future greats succeed.
Pop another cold one, Grandpa. And keep on slinging. Show the haters how a redneck becomes a legend.

Favre Surronded By Receivers Again

Greg Camarillo

Brett Favre Embraces Percy Harvin

Jevon Walker

Brett Favre

Brett Favre And Sidney Rice

 


EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP)—One of the biggest reasons Brett Favre(notes) decided to return to the Minnesota Vikings this year was his familiarity with an offense that he enjoyed being around so much in 2009.
Suddenly, in some ways, Favre feels as if he’s starting all over again.
His two favorite targets—Sidney Rice(notes) and Percy Harvin(notes)—have struggled with ailments throughout the preseason. Rice had hip surgery on Monday and likely will miss the first half of the regular season while Harvin has hardly practiced because of recurring migraines.

“Not a lot different than last year as far as chemistry is concerned,” Favre said Wednesday. “It would have been nice to come in and go to bat with the guys that we finished with last year, but that is part of football. Every coach will say the same thing. Regardless of who is put in there we have to play the same way.”
With Favre leading the way, the Vikings changed from a run-oriented offense in the first three years under coach Brad Childress into a pass-first unit that finished second in the league in scoring.
Vikings receivers caught 207 of the 377 passes completed last season, nearly all of which were thrown by Favre. When Favre stepped into the huddle in San Francisco on Sunday night, Rice and Harvin were not even in the stadium, meaning 143 of last season’s receptions weren’t around.
Bernard Berrian(notes) (55 catches) and Greg Lewis(notes) (eight) are the only healthy receivers on this year’s roster who caught a pass from Favre in 2009.
Harvin did practice on Wednesday for the first time since a scary collapse last week brought on by migraines. He was taken from the field in an ambulance, spent the night in the hospital and did not make the trip to San Francisco. His availability for Saturday night’s game against Seattle is in question.
The reigning rookie of the year forged a bond quickly with Favre last year, emerging as his security blanket on third down. Harvin missed one game in the regular season because of migraines and several practices in the playoffs as the Vikings marched to the NFC title game.
“Percy’s situation is kind of iffy,” Favre said. “We expect big things from him, bigger than last year. He has to take care of himself first.”
While Harvin dealt with the headaches last year, Rice’s need for surgery came as a surprise to nearly everyone. He was injured in the NFC title game loss to New Orleans, but said that doctors told him his hip would heal without surgery.
Rice posted an update on his blog on Wednesday, saying that he tweaked the injury during minicamp in June but still hoped to avoid surgery. But doctors told him on Monday that a new MRI showed “a problem that could shorten my career.”
“Once the Doc got in there and checked everything out, he said having the surgery was the best move I could have made, so I don’t regret it now,” Rice wrote. “He said it could have been much worse if I would have tried to play on it during the season. He said it could have been my last year of playing football, so I know I made the right decision.”
Favre said he kept in contact with Rice, who led the team with 83 catches and 1,312 yards, while he spent the summer deciding whether he should come back for a 20th NFL season.
“I really felt like at some point here in training camp he would be able to go,” Favre said. “Obviously that’s not the case. Probably like most people, I was pretty optimistic that he would be OK.”
So Brett, if you knew Rice would be out so long, would you have come back?
“I don’t know that for certain because that obviously wasn’t the case,” Favre said. “It’s hard enough at 40 to play. You take a guy out that had roughly 90-something catches and was obviously pretty productive … but there’s more guys on this team, too.”
Rice said he hopes to be back before the first half of the season ends. There have been theories that he did not get the surgery because he was in the final year of his contract and was hoping to sign an extension, and Rice addressed that issue in his blog.
“It’s not my concern what people say about my contract, whatever happens, happens,” Rice wrote. “If the Vikings decide to give me an extension, that’s great. If not, life goes on. I’ll continue to work hard and do everything I can to be successful in what I’ve been doing my whole life, and that’s playing football.”
The Vikings scrambled this week to add depth to a receiving group short on experience, signing veteran free agent Javon Walker(notes) on Tuesday and trading with the Dolphins for slot receiver Greg Camarillo(notes) on Wednesday.
Walker caught passes from Favre for four years in Green Bay, but he has just 41 receptions in the past three years combined in Denver and Oakland.
Camarillo has 105 receptions for 1,165 yards and two touchdowns over the past two years in Miami.
“Without Sidney, it sure makes it tougher, Favre said. “But going into the season last year, no one expected the season that Sidney was going to have. So, maybe there’s another guy that can step up and do that.”

Brand New Receiving Core For Vikings?

  The Sidney-Rice-less Vikings obviously have no problem adding receivers after snagging Javon Walker and Greg Camarillo last week. Camarillo showed his football acumen Saturday against Seattle with four catches and 47 yards despite just two days of practice for the former Miami Dolphin.
Walker made a sensational 25-yard touchdown catch on a lob between two Seahawks defenders, but he also missed on a few balls thrown his way.
Should the Vikings add one more player off waivers or through a trade? Depends on how happy they are with Walker.
Two popular options being bantered about...
Antonio Bryant -- Bengals paying him $7.85 million just to release him, so he can't be too ready to play. SI's Peter King points out that Bryant has Chondral Defect of the knee, a long-term problem that could scare teams from picking him up off waivers.
Laveranues Coles -- The 32-year-old Coles is reportedly eyeing retirement, but if he's got something left in the tank, maybe the Vikings can convince him.
Not sure either of those players add much value at this stage in their careers, but you've got to think the Vikings will explore all options.

    Now back to Percy Harvin Minnesota Vikings fans / Percy Harvin's migraine headaches have been a riddle that no one has been able to solve.
After another battery of tests last week, and a promising 2010 preseason debut, Harvin hopes he is getting closer to figuring out a debilitating medical condition that has plagued him for most of his life.
The Minnesota Vikings receiver had two catches for 30 yards and took two big shots to the head Saturday night in a preseason victory over Seattle, the first time he's played this year after being stricken by migraines for most of training camp.
``I felt great,'' Harvin said after the game. ``Just glad to get back out there with my teammates and work some of the rust off. I've got a lot of work to do, conditioning-wise, but it felt good to get out there.''
Harvin has barely practiced this month while dealing with the death of his grandmother and a string of headaches that have been maddeningly random and devastatingly severe. No one knows exactly when they're going to occur or what triggers them. Even more frustrating, doctors and trainers have been unable to come up with a treatment to neutralize them.
The Vikings have gone to great lengths to try to identify the causes and understand the problem.
``It's kind of a tenuous thing,'' coach Brad Childress told The Associated Press last month. ``What can exacerbate migraines? Stress? Check. Fatigue? Check. Head or neck trauma? Hmmm.''
Despite playing a sport that doesn't exactly help his condition, Harvin said he has no plans on making a career change.
``It's been rough, but it's life,'' Harvin said. ``I don't want the easy way out sometimes. It's life, I'm dealing with it. I finally got back and it's good to be back out here with my teammates.''
He missed one game last year because of the headaches and missed several practices in the playoffs. But teammates and coaches got their first real glimpse of how serious they can be on Aug. 19, when Harvin vomited and collapsed on the practice field.
He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and spent the night. More tests ensued and Harvin surprisingly suited up for the game Saturday night despite not practicing all week.
``I did a test (Friday) night and they found some things that we think was the main cause of it,'' Harvin said. ``We're feeling really confident. I know we said that a couple times, but I think this time we found what the main cause was. I'm not saying I'll never get a headache again, but hopefully we can slow it down a little bit.''
The Vikings know they have to be cautious in their optimism, but they were treating that development as good news for the reigning offensive rookie of the year.
With Sidney Rice out for possibly the entire first half of the season with a hip injury, Harvin's importance to the offense has grown exponentially. He is Brett Favre's favorite target and a valued weapon for offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who can line him up at receiver or running back.
``It was a good start,'' Favre said of Harvin's first game. ``Percy's a football player. I'm not surprised at anything he does.''
Harvin absorbed two big hits in the game, one from Lofa Tatupu that knocked his helmet off in the first half and another from safety Earl Thomas on a slant over the middle.
``He didn't seem any worse for the wear,'' Childress said. ``He took a couple of pretty good licks.''
Harvin knows that's going to come with the territory and prepared himself for it.
``Everybody looks for that first contact to get hit, to feel part of the game,'' he said. ``I was looking forward to getting hit.'' 

  Get Your Brett Favre Jersey Below: 

    

Minnesota Vikings Outlook For The 2010-2011 Season

Vikings Favorites To Win NFC North

Greg Camarillo [Mr. Reliable]

Favre With A Whole New Receiving Crew

Jevon Walker Now With Vikings

 













Despite having the third toughest schedule this year in the league, The Sporting News picked the Vikings to win the NFC North by a small margin and hailed several of the team’s players as the best at their position in division.

Predictions for the 2010 season are starting to roll in and The Sporting News is the latest to trot out their predictions.

Despite putting Packers QB Aaron Rodgers on the cover, the magazine predicts the Vikings to win the NFC North for a third straight year. The Vikings are picked to finish 11-5, the same record as Green Bay, but the publication gives the Vikings the tie-breaker edge and the division crown.

While the magazine itself picks the Jets and Cowboys in the Super Bowl, in a poll of its four in-house experts, two of them have the Cowboys beating the Packers in the NFC Championship Game and the other two have the Vikings beating Dallas. Of the two that pick the Vikings to go to the Super Bowl, one has the Vikings beating the Jets and the other has the Vikings losing to Baltimore.

However, of the 32 team correspondents that voted, 20 of them picked Green Bay to win the division, while 12 picked the Vikings – none picked the Bears or Lions. Those same correspondents overwhelmingly think Rodgers is the division Offensive MVP, earning 25 votes. Of the other seven votes, five went to Adrian Peterson and two to Brett Favre. On the defensive side, Jared Allen earned 20 votes for Defensive MVP.

The success of the Vikings, however, doesn’t translate to respect for Brad Childress. He received only seven votes for the division’s best coach – Mike McCarthy got 23 votes and Lovie Smith somehow got two. In a related ranking of the NFL’s 32 coaches, Childress ranked 14th.

The All-Division Team, picked by former Lions coach Bobby Ross, was dominated by Vikings, including Favre (over Rodgers), Peterson, Steve Hutchinson, Bryant McKinnie and Percy Harvin on offense, Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Chad Greenway and Antoine Winfield on defense and Harvin as the division’s kickoff returner.

While the Vikings have some issues that need to be solved before they can begin the process of building momentum as they did last year, they have a lot more believers among those who follow the NFL.

FRIDAY NOTES

• Harvin, who was hoping to play Saturday, sat out Thursday’s practice and, if there was an injury report for the preseason, would likely be viewed as questionable or doubtful for tomorrow’s game.

• The Vikings practiced at Mall of America Field Thursday to get a feel for the new turf that has been laid on the Metrodome floor.

•  Rookie Chris Cook is expected to get the start at right cornerback Saturday, the game in which the starters see the most action of the preseason. There is a growing sentiment that, if Cook performs well in his test Saturday, he could supplant Lito Sheppard or Asher Allen in the starting lineup when the regular season begins.

•  Favre and the rest of the starters are expected to play the entire first half and, most likely, a series or two in the second half as well.

•  Some teams are already taking the third preseason game quite seriously. The Patriots played Tom Brady into the fourth quarter in their loss to the Rams.

•  If the third week of preseason games comes close to mirroring the first two played Thursday, it could be a wild weekend. The Patriots and Rams combined to score 71 points, which was dwarfed by the 83 combined points scored by the Packers and Colts.

Sack Brings Brett Favre's 2010 Debut With The Vikings To An Early End

Brett Favre Smiles After Being Sacked

Patrick Willis Sacks Brett Favre On His 3rd Play

  

Trench Battle At CandleStick Park

       One proclamation and three preseason practices were all Vikings quarterback Brett Favre needed to leverage a start Sunday night in his 2010 debut against the 49ers.

Peterson Redeems Himself After

One brief offensive series and leaky pass protection were all it took to convince coach Brad Childress to put Favre back in the box and let the more prepared Tarvaris Jackson line up behind the first-team offensive line.

Favre was on the field for only four plays during the Vikings' 15-10 loss at Candlestick Park before he was seen donning a baseball cap and basking in the northern California sunshine on the sideline.

Afterward, with little to evaluate about his appearance, Favre did damage control, scoffing at a report last week that he does not trust Childress because they clashed several times last season about how the offense should be managed.

"I would say at times we disagreed on certain things but our relationship is fine. It really is," Favre told reporters after the game. "We were fine the next day. We worked it out. I thought our results last year spoke for themselves."

On Wednesday, the day after Favre reported to Minnesota, Yahoo! Sports quoted an anonymous teammate saying Favre had little respect for Childress and questioned Childress' clumsy attempts to control news about the three-man reconnaissance mission to bring him back.

Favre called a team meeting Thursday, when Childress was visiting Percy Harvin at the hospital after the receiver collapsed during practice, to dismiss the Yahoo! story and caution his teammates about unfounded leaks.

"I felt like it was important that we cleared the air and made sure that we were together in that room when we left, and we were," Favre said. "(Childress) was made out to be the scapegoat but it was a totally ridiculous article. The guys that spoke in that meeting said, 'Hey, if someone has a problem with another player or another coach in here, speak up like a man.'

"No one obviously spoke up. That's not to say there would be someone who would say that. But I don't believe it. I really don't. That was addressed, and I think that's behind us now."

Much like his first preseason start last year against Kansas City, when Favre was leveled by Chiefs linebacker Corey Mays on his third snap, Favre's ordinary series Sunday will be remembered for him getting flattened by another blitzing linebacker.

The 49ers' Patrick Willis easily shed Adrian Peterson's block in the backfield and teamed with fellow linebacker Takeo Spikes to swarm Favre and drive him to the turf for a 10-yard loss. "



What can the Vikings foreshadow  this season from Favre's short performance against the 49er's, not much. Favre looked a little hesitant on his throws and didn't have the spark in his eye that we know. All we can conclude is that he's eager to play again and hopefully ready to go after that Superbowl this season. Brett remarked, "when I'm I decided to return the only way I know how to go is all in and if I wasn't ready to return and play at that level than I wouldn't have returned." Brett Favre says he's all in mentally but how about physically. Quarterbacks need to have resiliency and this year Favre's ankle and aging body could prevent him from playing to his potential. We all know Favre's "all in " mentally, but his ankle might keep him out of games.


     Favre's biggest play came to RB Adrian Peterson for a sidleine dump pass for 13 yards. Two plays later 49ers linebacker and pro bowler Patrick Willis sacked him for a 10 yard loss forcing Favre out of the game and the Vikings to punt. But be realistic Vikings fans. Don't talk smack about Brett Favre just because his first offensive series was unsuccessful. He played four plays not even enough to warm him up. Preceding the game vs the 49ers, which the Vikings lost 10-15, Favre only practiced three times. So, it's like going from throwing to high school kids with nobody trying to sack you, to stud pro bowlers like Takeo Spikes and Patrick Willis sacking you. We all know that Brett Favre is going to unload his strikes come game day against the Saints and will kick ass again this season. When Brett gets going there is no stopping him so all that's got to happen is for Brett to start seeing the plays and getting used to moving in the pocket and throwing tight passes again. Anyways, here;s a recap of the Pre-season loss vs the San Fransisco 49ers:


It took Brett Favre all summer to decide he'd play football again. Patrick Willis helped end Favre's night after one series.




Willis brought the rush to Favre on the Vikings' third play of the game for a 10-yard sack with teammate Takeo Spikes closing as well.



Willis considered it payback for a down field block Favre threw on him in a Week 3 loss last season.



"He's a wise old vet," Willis said after Sunday's 15-10 victory over the Vikings at Candlestick. "I guess he was like, 'This is a little too much for me right now just coming back.' I guess a lot of people thought he shouldn't have played.



"I was happy to be out there myself."



Willis played two series with the starting defense, and made sure it was ready to go with the season opener still three weeks away.



Dropping a 40-year-old quarterback just off the Mississippi farm is one thing. It was quite another how Willis ankle-tackled Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson in the open field.



And, going back to that Favre sack ... it happened as Willis shoved Peterson into the quarterback.



"That was my fault," Peterson said. "Willis, being the great 'backer that he is, got underneath me and pushed me right into him."

Brett Favre Earning Extra......Updates on Player's Status For Sunday

Brett Favre

Brett Favre has turned his seasonal job into quite a money-maker, especially this year as he is expected to earn more in deferred money and incentives.

Thanks to uncapped season, NFL owners don’t have to worry about salary cap ramifications. For the Vikings, that could prove to be a very, very good thing.

When Brett Favre signed his two-year contract, he did so with the knowledge that it was a near certainty that the 2010 season would be uncapped. As a result, the organization deferred $8 million of the $12 million Favre made in 2009, according to multiple reports. The deferral was made to the 2010 league year, which runs from March 1, 2010 to March 1, 2011. He got one $4 million payment March 15 and will get another $4 million in 2009 salary sometime on or before Feb. 11, 2011. Had Favre decided not to return, he still would have been entitled to his deferred $8 million.

With his 2010 salary being bumped from $13 million to $16 million, during this NFL league year, Favre will receive a minimum of $24 million. If he meets all the incentives that are in the contract, which could be as high as $4 million additional, he could end up making a staggering $28 million in the 2010 year.

Upon hearing this news, you couldn’t really blame any of his teammates from being a little bit jealous that he didn’t show up for training camp.

To date, Favre’s restructured contract hasn’t been officially approved by the league and the player’s union, but that is expected to be finalized soon.
SATURDAY NOTES

# As expected, Favre is going to start Sunday against the 49ers, but, unlike many other teams that have let their starters play an entire half in the second preseason game, Favre is only expected to play a series or two with the first-team offense. Head coach Brad Childress said he is looking for about 10 plays out of Favre.

# Percy Harvin was back at practice Friday, but wasn’t in uniform and won’t be making the trip to San Francisco for Sunday night’s game. He is expected to undergo more tests after his most recent episode, which sent shockwaves through the team. His on-field collapse was the first time many of his teammates had seen the severity of his attacks.

E.J. Henderson, who suited up for last week’s game against the Rams, is expected to play with the first-team defense Sunday.

Asher Allen and Lito Sheppard are expected to split series at right cornerback in place of Cedric Griffin. Allen is expected to get the start.

The Vikings worked out former Packer, Bronco and Raider wide receiver Javon Walker, who had the best years of his career with Favre in Green Bay. The team also worked out receiver Brandon Jones, who was released earlier this week from the 49ers.

The reason the Vikings are working out wide receivers are due to questions concerning who will be healthy enough to start the season. Aside from questions about Harvin, there are concerns about Sidney Rice, who isn’t sure he will be ready in time for the regular-season opener and felt pain in his hip working out Friday.

The 49ers announced Friday that star wide receiver Michael Crabtree (neck) and Pro Bowl tight end Vernon Davis (knee) won’t play in Sunday’s game with the Vikings.

 Minnesota Vikings Schedule:

 

Minnesota Vikings Schedule

9/09 Minnesota Vikings @ New Orleans Saints

9/19 Miami Dolphins @ Minnesota Vikings

9/26 Detroit Lions @ Minnesota Vikings

Vikings Bye Week

10/11 Minnesota Vikings @ New York Jets

10/17 Dallas Cowboys @ Minnesota Vikings

10/24 Minnesota Vikings @ Green Bay Packers

10/31 Minnesota Vikings @ New England Patriots

11/7 Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings

11/14 Minnesota Vikings @ Chicago Bears

11/21 Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings

11/28 Minnesota Vikings@ Washington Redskins

12/05 Buffalo Bills @ Minnesota Vikings

12/12 New York Giants @ Minnesota Vikings

12/20 Chicago Bears @ Minnesota Vikings

12.26 Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles

1/2/2011 Minnesota Vikings @ Detroit Lions