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| John Sullivan |
The Vikings haven’t made a final decision on whether or not to play their starters in Thursday’s preseason finale, but John Sullivan won’t be among them. Plus, Sidney Rice is officially out for at least six weeks, the first roster cuts are in and traffic could be snarled Thursday. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said Tuesday that a final decision on the starters for Thursday’s preseason finale hasn’t been made yet. Most likely, the star players won’t be making an appearance, but a decision to sit the entire starting cast or a portion of it hasn’t been made yet. “Originally I think coach said that he wasn’t going to (play the starters) and then in the team meeting right before the game he said he reserved the right to put them in if he needed to, so I’m not sure he’s made a decision on that,” Bevell said. “He hasn’t told us yet. But the guys did perform pretty decent early in that game and he’ll end up making that decision, probably pretty quick.” Injuries have forced the Vikings make a number of adjustments to their starting lineup, most notably and consistently at center. John Sullivan hasn’t played yet this preseason and Bevell said he wouldn’t be playing again in the preseason finale Thursday night against the Denver Broncos. “I don’t think it’s at that point yet. We’ve got to get him back out here after this preseason game,” Bevell said. “We knew that we weren’t going to have him through this game. Pretty much just being able to see if it can handle pushing off, the physical strain. He’ll be fine conditioning-wise because they’re still working with that.” The Vikings have started 2009 rookie free agent Jon Cooper as well as Anthony Herrera, normally the starting right guard, at center in their first three preseason games. As for the regular-season opener, all three – Sullivan, Herrera and Cooper – are possibilities, Bevell said. Bevell said the team expected to have their five starting offensive linemen from last year all healthy when they started training camp, but “at some point we’ll get Sully back.” RICE MOVED TO RESERVE/PUP The Vikings placed wide receiver Sidney Rice on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, meaning he will officially be out for at least the first six games of the season. Rice had surgery on his hip last week and Vikings coach Brad Childress said it would be “at least” eight weeks before he could return. The Vikings can have him return to practice after the first six games of the season and make a determination about his future after that. Rice tweeted on Tuesday that he was working out in a pool with Timberwolves guard Jonny Flynn. CUTS COME HOME The Vikings got down to the NFL-mandated 75-player roster limit on Tuesday by making the move on Rice and releasing WR Marko Mitchell and OL Bill Noethlich. The team put LB J Leman on the injured-reserve list after he cleared the waived-injured process. He joins WR Jaymar Johnson on that season-ending designation. The Vikings will have to make a decision on CB Cedric Griffin, who is on the active physically-unable-to-perform list by Saturday. Griffin, who hasn’t practiced with the team since tearing his ACL in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 24, could also be headed for the PUP list if trainers and doctors aren’t convinced he’s ready for action in the coming weeks. The Vikings will have to be down to the NFL-mandated roster limit of 53 players by 5 p.m. Central Saturday, meaning at least 22 players will be waived, along with a decision being made on Griffin. VIKINGS-TWINS SHOWDOWN The city of Minneapolis is warning Vikings and Twins fans of the potential for congested traffic on Thursday night. With the Twins now playing in the new Target Field, Thursday night will mark the first concurrent Twins and Vikings games and the city is projecting that as many as 100,000 people will attend the two games. The Vikings play the Denver Broncos at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 5 p.m., and the Twins host the Detroit Tigers at 7:10 p.m., with gates opening at 5:30 p.m. Additionally, the Orpheum Theatre is presenting the production “Wicked,” with doors opening there at 6:30 p.m. The City of Minneapolis is encouraging those who drive to the games to park as close as they can to that stadium and encouraging other forms of transportation. The Hiawatha Light Rail is expected to be full, but bus service will supplement that before and after the game, picking up passengers at the 28th Ave. Station and Fort Snelling Station and going to both the Metrodome and Target Field. The Northstar commuter rail is sending an eight-car train from the Big Lake Station with stops in Elk River, Anoka, Coon Rapids and Fridley, with arrival at Target Field Station at about 6:10 p.m. Fans headed to the Vikings game will make a free transfer to the Hiawatha light-rail line for the short trip to the Metrodome. After the games, separate sets of buses will depart both venues and deliver passengers back to their starting points. NOTES
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| The Vikings have had the best rush defense over the past three years, finishing second last year and first the previous two years. Avoiding four-game suspensions to Pat and Kevin Williams would help keep that important element intact. The recent court decision to delay the suspensions of Pat Williams and Kevin Williams may have a big influence in Brett Favre’s still-pending decision as to whether to come back for another year or to spend an autumn on the farm in Mississippi for the first time in his adult life. The conventional wisdom is that if Favre comes back, the Vikings will make a Super Bowl run. But, without the Williams Wall, those odds would take a hit. The Williamses have both been Pro Bowlers for a reason. With all the complicated offensive schemes designed to open up and exploit defenses, the basic premise of the game remains the same – run the ball effectively on offense and stop the run on defense. If you do that consistently, you stand a better chance to win consistently. With the Williams Wall in place, over the last three years, nobody has done it like the Vikings. In 2007, the Vikings finished 8-8, missing the playoffs thanks to a collapse at home against Washington that would have clinched a wild card berth. Their mediocrity wasn’t due to the run defense. It was rated No. 1 in yards allowed and No. 2 in average per rushing attempt. The problem was that the Vikings couldn’t consistently generate a pass rush and quarterbacks with any acumen (and even some without a lot of street cred) were able to pick them apart – the Vikings had the 32nd-rated pass defense in ’07, which was saying something considering there were six teams that lost 12 or more games and one (Miami) that lost 15 times. In 2008, Jared Allen came to the team and Ray Edwards was given the other full-time starting job and they helped vastly improve the pass rush and the overall defense. The Vikings went from 32nd in the league in pass defense to 18th. It wasn’t a meteoric jump, but it was good enough to help the team improve from 8-8 to 10-6. The run defense was still dominant. They again finished first in rush yards allowed and second in average per rush, leading the Vikings to a division title for the first time in eight years and giving hope that bigger things could be on the horizon. The arrival of Favre kicked expectations up a notch – make that 20 notches. The offense improved exponentially upon his arrival. In the two years previously referenced, the Vikings had started Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte, Brooks Bollinger and Kelly Holcomb. Favre brought immediate excitement – and more scoring – to the Vikings offense. It put pressure on the defense to keep up and the that side of the ball responded. The numbers slipped slightly – second in the league in rush yards allowed and sixth in average per carry – but the formula remained the same. If you stop them, the wins will come. Had the NFL been able to impose its four-game suspension on the Williamses – the odds of them getting it reduced by a game or two given the rancor of the court cases is unlikely – it might have been enough to keep Favre on the farm side of the fence. But with them back in the fold for the foreseeable future, things again look bright heading into the season, which could be a contributing factor in Favre making the decision so many fans, coaches and teammates are keeping their fingers crossed that he will make. MONDAY NOTES | |||||||
