The Wednesday Round Up from Mankato
by Ted Glover on Aug 4, 2010 9:29 PM CDT
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PrintWe have devoted enough time and energy to Brett Favre for a couple days. There are some things emerging from Mankato that quite frankly have me troubled. We'll start with the QB situation as it pertains to performance on the field, injuries that don't seem to be healing, and where the Vikings sit in the battle for backup running back, and an injury that might or might not have made that decision easy for the coaching staff.
The uneven play of quarterbacks in camp has been an issue from day one. Other than asking about the 600 pund Favre in the room, there really hasn't been a whole lot of info about Tarvaris Jackson, other than the coaches have been very pleased with his approach and increased understanding of the offense. That's the good news. The bad news is that today, he went 3-11 in 11 on 11 drills, although Judd Zulgad said he looked very sharp in 7 on 7. I have no doubt that Jackson knows the offense better now than at this time last year, and that he will be better in that offense, but it's all for naught if he can't get the ball to the receiver. Sage Rosenfels really stuggled early in camp, throwing four picks in one practice session. But over the last two days he has really picked up his game, having a good session today and building on what was described as his best day of camp yesterday.
The status of Sidney Rice and Adrian Peterson has gone from an afterthought to a mild concern. Between the two, the one I am least worried about is Peterson, although he went from a light workload to not even being in pads today. I'm sure a lot of that is precautionary, but with AP's fumbling issue, it can't hurt to practice and get reps. Sidney Rice's injury is starting to concern me, though. If his hip isn't okay with rest and phyical therapy, it's something that will affect him all season, and could lead to surgery. Regardless of who the QB is, Rice is a vital cog to this offense, and if he is out for an extended period of time it will hurt. With Percy Harvin's migraines, a healthy Rice is essential.
Oh, Adrian Peterson also thinks that it's time to 'have a conversation' about his contract.
"At least talk about it," Peterson said. "It is what it is. It’s a business and people really don't understand. The fans really don’t understand it but there is a business side of football that my agents take care of while I still come out perform and play football. It’s a business side with the Vikings organization and we can talk about whatever, but I’ll let those guys handle that and I just do what I've got to do and that’s get myself ready to play this season and get to the championship."
Cool, more distractions!!
Speaking of running backs, Albert Young entered camp as the 2nd string RB with Toby Gerhart 3rd string, and Young is still the #2 guy. Bevell said that is due to Young's familiarity with the system, and that's also why he is the leading candidate to be the third down back as well. My sentimental favorite for a RB spot, Darius Reynaud, injured his ankle today and was carted off the practice field. Even a minor injury that sets him back only a day or two could be the difference in whether or not he makes the team. Reynaud has an uphill climb to begin with, and any time out of the loop could put him far enough behind that he won't be able to catch up.
Okay, that's all I have from the Mankato reports for today.
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Disappointing that you kept the AP caption below the photo, nonetheless good article. Think about it…….it can only go up from here……right?
not having sidney
not having sidney would hurt, but not as much as people think. we do have that Marko Mitchell guy, who we got during the off-season and he is pretty talented. if sidney isn’t ready to go. I think marko would fit in nicely
You can’t really think that can you? How can you compare Rice, who had 1300+ yards to a guy who hasn’t even topped the 40 yard mark in a season?
by packallday555 on Aug 5, 2010 11:13 AM CDT up reply actions
Yes, you can...
You can see Marko Mitchell running through that aged Pack secondary time after time, humiliating them, much to the dispair of the fans at Lambeau. In fact, it’s quite a lot of fun to do, and should be done repeatedly. Did Rice have 1300+ yards in any the season before? No, of course not. If Favre starts throwing to Marko, things will be different. Do you think the Redskins picked up McNabb because things were great at QB?
The past does not dictate the future. If you run across the expressway today and don’t get hit by a bus, that does not mean if you make that same run tomorrow you won’t wind up a bloody hood ornament.
Nope, Rice never had 1300 yards before but he did have more then 40 yards in all of his seasons too.
Maybe Favre will make him great (like he did with Sidney) but I wouldn’t say the chances are all that great. By the logic you seem to be using, any guy with good speed and hands who has ever played with Favre ends up being good. Surely that hasn’t been the case (or wasn’t in the 17 years I watched Favre in GB).
I’d still take “that aged Pack secondary” over your aged (Winfield) and mediocre (Griffin) secondary too :).
by packallday555 on Aug 5, 2010 5:34 PM CDT up reply actions
I thought all Pack fans gave up on all players over the age of 30 ???
Those two old codgers have found a way to defy the odds . For the first six games I definately agree .
by gothicpurple on Aug 5, 2010 10:45 PM CDT up reply actions
Lol nope only 38 year olds :). Wood and Al still got a few years left before they reach that age.
by packallday555 on Aug 7, 2010 1:47 AM CDT up reply actions
Apparently you have never seen marko play. He didn’t really have a great qb in washington, when he played. He has great speed and good hands. Sure he hasn’t had much opportunity to prove himself, but when he did hit the field. He showed that he has the potential to be a great Wide out. With favre there, i don’t really see any reason to worry if rice isn’t ready to go.
Well, it wasn’t like he didn’t get opportunities due to great talent ahead of him on the depth chart. The only proven guy they had last year was Santana Moss. After that, their next best guys were Thomas and Kelly, who both only have two years of experience themselves.
Campbell is not all that bad of a Qb either. Washington’s problem with their offense has been the bonehead coaches calling the plays for them (3 different schemes in Campbell’s 3 years with them as well). Of course Campbell isn’t anywhere near Favre either though.
If I were to say Jennings going down wasn’t a big deal, and that he could probably be replaced by essentially our 5th or 6th option at WR because they had great potential you’d probably find that to be a bit of a stretch wouldn’t you?
by packallday555 on Aug 5, 2010 5:44 PM CDT up reply actions
Rice worries me
He had 6 months to heal. I am worried that this extra 1.5 month won’t have him healed before camp. He always has problems with his hips and knees it seems.
Harvin will be better and perhaps Berrian healthy all year might cover it up. BUt it sure is ncie going three wide with Rice stretching things over the top.
AP I’m not too worried about. Veteran RB’s don’t need as many reps and this early in camp they are probably being overly cautious. And it isn’t like he’s been nursing this injury since last season.
Rice
He had 6 months to heal. I am worried that this extra 1.5 month won’t have him healed before camp. He always has problems with his hips and knees it seems.
That was my thought as well. Also, if he was injured during the playoffs, why didn’t he seek the proper treatment back in January? Waiting until now to look at surgery seems… strange.
Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!
Some say it's more about money ???
I hope he didn’t skip Fitzgerald and Carter’s camps’ over $$$$$$
by gothicpurple on Aug 5, 2010 10:48 PM CDT up reply actions
Eh
One of the reason(s) I wish Favre would come out and say… Yes, I am coming back.
This way…. We can try to utilize Webb as a WR. He has a lot of physical talent, speed, and huge mitts to catch a ball.
We can drop/release Sage, leaving Webb as a back-up 3rd string QB. He can than go threw the stride of learning how to be a WR, which should come easier for him since as a QB you would need to know WR routes.
Having Webb, could be a reasonable valid Rice replacement if Rice needed to heal.
Than, Rice would be able to heal properly and get some reps in during the season and be ready for the back-end of the year. Potentially maybe replacing a receiver w/ a lingering injury.
But….. I don’t think that is the way it’ll go down. Sadly….
So he went 3-11 in 11 on 11 drills. The other day he was 13 of 15 or something like that. Stuff Mayock was showing on NFLN last night looked good as well.
In the end, though, its camp. The staff wants all players to push the edge. Mix that in with some of the prime targets missing and you really can’t use camp numbers for anything.
Lets see what TJ looks like in the first preseason game and beyond.
I for one am excited to see what he can do after sitting and watching a QB actually run the scheme/gameplan the way it should be run. Truth be told, we saw the biggest improvement come out of him after he watched Gus for a few games? Can you imagine how much he has progressed if he retained half of what he could learn from the Prima Donna?
by Marrdro on Aug 5, 2010 11:44 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
All Sage's INT's were because Brad had him throwing to spots .
Simulating Brees and Martz work with Cutler .
—Important note : C.Cook picked off three balls while in the drills . He used his big frame to locate and make plays on the balls .
by gothicpurple on Aug 5, 2010 10:52 PM CDT up reply actions
It probably helped that he was facing the likes of Jackson and Sage though too right :)?
by packallday555 on Aug 7, 2010 1:49 AM CDT up reply actions
Here it is courtesy of NFL.com.
Mike Mayock and some guy named Randy Moss.
Thanks for the update
I always have to temper any kind of excitement or disappointment I feel from these early reports with the knowledge that it is the same team they are going up against.
The offense runs the same plays (more or less) and the defense knows it.
IMO it is all about execution.
More interesting to me right now is the contract status of several players.
Say what you want, but I have to believe that if they are going to give Favre and extra 7 mil (possibly) then some of the guys are not going to be too happy.
I have been harping on this for a while now and I do not believe it is going to magically go away and everyone is going to be happy.
They will play and they will play hard. No question on that because many players have said there is no other way to go about it once you step on the field.
But all of these guys want to get their money too. They are all one play away.
IMO the priority should be …
1. AP gets a new huge deal.
2. Rice gets a two year modest deal. It will pay him more fairly and give the team time to evaluate whether or not they should pay him a huge contract when the two years are up.
3. Greenway gets a two year modest deal with the same thought process as Rice.
4. TJack gets a two year modest deal with the same thought process as Rice.
… I would want to get these three squared away in this uncapped year. That way in 2011 they can resign some other guys like BRob, Cook, Evans, Sheppard, Erin H, etc.
All of these guys should be below top tier money but the FO may want to keep them around.
But the top 4 should be taken care of before the season starts. Maybe they can do AP sometime during the year but they need the money to count against this year’s cap.
i agree partially
yes to rice and AP, but i think that chad deserves that longterm deal. He has shown what he can do, and he is one of the most underrated LB’s out there. As for sheppard, he was only brought in for some depth at corner, and maybe start while cedric is out. Now if he is OUTSTANDING, then he might get extended. And Henderson i don’t see coming back, even on special teams.
Fine by me
Locking up Greenway is a great idea.
I hope they do it.
But the problem is the 30% rule.
Here is what Patrick Willis received (from rotoworld) …
5/4/2010: Signed a seven-year, $53.51 million contract. The deal contains $29 million guaranteed, including a $15.5 million signing bonus. He is also scheduled to receive annual $1.25 million workout bonuses in years three through seven. 2010: $1.098 million, 2011: $1.596 million (+ $4.8 million “supersede” signing bonus), 2012: $1.904 million, 2013: $2.402 million, 2014: $2.9 million, 2015: $3.398 million, 2016: $3.896 million, 2017: $4 million, 2018: Free Agent
… here is what Karlos Dansby received (from rotoworld)
3/5/2010: Signed a five-year, $43 million contract. The deal contains $22 million guaranteed, including a $16 million signing bonus. 2010: $4.8 million, 2011: $2.7 million, 2012: $8.8 million, 2013: $6.05 million, 2014: $9.05 million, 2015: Free Agent
… Greenway is set to earn 1.295 mil this year. His base salary can go up 30% each year. One thing I am not sure of is whether or not you can increase each year by 30% from the previous year or from the first year. I will assume it is the former.
So he can make 1.684 mil this year, 2.189 mil in 2011, 2.845 mil in 2012, & 3.699 mil in 2013 for a total base salary of 10.416 mil in the next four years. The rest of the money they give him would have to be in the form of a guaranteed bonus.
The two guys above are obviously better than Greenway (not by much) and are getting about 8 mil per year roughly.
If the Vikings pay Greenway 8 mil per year then they would have to give him 22 mil in guaranteed money because of the 30% rule.
That is why I suggested a two year deal.
I think they could offer him a two year deal with a 9 mil guaranteed bonus. With his salary he will average about 6.4 per year which is not bad and not too far off what the top guys make. If he plays well this year and then through 2011 he can get a new deal then.
Of course it is easy for me to make suggestions with Wilf’s money. :)
But if they want to sign free agents next year and sign these guys too, they will have to come up with quite a bit of money in 2011. And the cap could be smaller.
AP is the only one who really deserves a new deal. He has earned it with 3 consecutive Pro Bowl seasons and may have been the best RB in the league for at least 2 of those seasons.
Rice is a 1-yr wonder so far. TJ has done nothing to deserve a new contract and is in no position to ask for one. Robison and Cook are fodder, and they should be replaced by draftees. (I can’t believe that you really meant Ryan Cook is worth a bigger contract?!?) Sheppard is an old stopgap. Erin H. and Evans are career backups, not the sorts that a team commits to in the long term.
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