The Vikings are in the midst of conducting their first press conference from their Training Camp in Mankato. Unfortunately, I am not there to actually hear said press conference, but there are a lot of interesting tidbits coming from some folks that are there via the Twitter. Specifically, Tom Pelissero of ESPN 1500 and Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
Some of the things that have been heard thus far:
- Erin Henderson will get the first chance to replace Ben Leber at the weakside linebacker position. Kenny Onatolu and (perhaps) Jasper Brinkley will get looks at that spot as well. Frazier said that talks with Leber were not "active" at this time, but didn't rule out something for the future.
- Kevin Williams says that he has not heard from the league concerning his four-game suspension from the StarCaps fiasco. (Maybe the NFL has had an attack of common sense. . .not that I'm holding my breath.)
- Cornerback Cedric Griffin will NOT start the pre-season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, but the team will "go slow with him" to ensure that he is ready for the season opener. Guard Anthony Herrera, on the other hand, WILL start the pre-season on the PUP list. Chris DeGeare will likely get Herrera's reps at that spot until Herrera is ready to go. . .provided DeGeare or somebody else doesn't play well enough to merit his replacement. (I added that last part.)
- Frazier hoping that Jamarca Sanford, Tyrell Johnson, or Mistral Raymond can step in for the departed Madieu Williams. I don't know about Johnson. . .we've seen this movie before, after all. . .but Sanford and Raymond are both intriguing possibilities to me.