Blogs

QB Sage Rosenfels Re-Signs With Vikings

The new League Year has officially begun and the Vikings have taken care of some housekeeping.

The team and QB Sage Rosenfels have agreed to a contract. Rosenfels will be in his 3rd season with the club in 2012.

The 12-year veteran played for the Vikings in 2009 and the final 5 games of 2011. A standout at Iowa State, Rosenfels was originally a 4th-round pick by Washington in 2001. He has 12 career starts to his credit, including 5 starts each for Houston in 2007 and 2008.

Notes From Frazier’s Monday Press Conference

Vikings Head Coach Leslie Frazier held his customary day-after-the-game press conference on Monday and came away from the film room with the same emotion he displayed immediately after Sunday’s loss – mistakes in the 2nd half overshadowed a lot of positive developments.

“After having had a chance to go back and look at the tape, those breakdowns in the second half really nullified a great effort by so many guys on our team,” Frazier said. “Guys coming out fighting and really playing to win; a number of guys. Percy, Toby, Jared, Kevin Williams, just a number of guys across the board battling. But we had some breakdowns in our secondary that really hurt us in the second half of that ball game.”

Frazier also cited turnovers and a special teams lapse as mistakes, ultimately acknowledging that “we are just not good enough at this point to overcome some of our own mistakes.”

As resigned as Frazier has been since the end of Sunday’s game, he actually sounds even more determined to help his team get past those mistakes and start playing better football.

“It’s something that you are concerned about and we will keep working at it as a team and as a staff,” Frazier said. “We have four games remaining this regular season, none more important than this game coming against Detroit. We have to work extremely hard to try to fix some of the problems that showed up. That kind of takes away from all the good things that did occur during the course of the game when you don’t get a win.”

Here are a few more notes from Frazier’s press conference on Monday…

Turning to Page?
Last week the Vikings made a bevy of roster moves, mostly due to injuries, and one of those moves was the signing of free agent S Jarrad Page, a 6-year veteran out of UCLA. Page has 45 career starts in his NFL career, including 5 this season with the Eagles and 1 last year in New England. Page won’t be in the starting lineup this week against the Lions, but Frazier did say on Monday that he could get some playing time on defense on a rotational basis this week.

“We are hoping he can,” Frazier said. “He did some really good things on special teams yesterday, so the fact that he has started some games this year in the League and he seemed to pick up things pretty well at the end of last week.  We are going to try to give him a little bit more and wee if he can get in the game and help us out. We are going to look at that depending on how he practices this week.”

Rosenfels’ role
Another one of the roster moves made last week was the signing of veteran Sage Rosenfels. This is Rosenfels’ second stint with the Vikings – he was with the team in 2009 – and while at some point Rosenfels could emerge as the backup, right now Joe Webb will be the #2 QB. This is an important note this week because starting QB Christian Ponder is dealing with a hip injury.

“That would be Joe,” Frazier said when asked if Rosenfels would take 1st-team reps should Ponder miss practice time. “Sage is not at that point, and I talked with Sage about his role on the team and he’s comfortable being that third guy and really helping Christian, along with Joe, to develop. But he wouldn’t be far enough along to put in a starting role.”

Happy having Herrera back
RG Anthony Herrera made his return to the starting lineup after battling back from another knee injury, this one sustained against the Green Bay Packers on October 23. Herrera made the Vikings roster as an undrafted free agent and has ascended the depth chart to establish himself as a starter. With that as his professional background and with a fiery attitude, Herrera gives the Vikings offensive line a needed edge at times, so Frazier was happy to have Herrera back in the lineup on Sunday.

“He played well,” Frazier said. “He had some moments where he struggled a little bit and then he really got his legs under him and played extremely well. It was great having him out there. He gives us some leadership, brings some intensity to our offensive line. We missed him. It was good just to have his presence on our offensive line. He brings a different vibe to our offense and gives us something that lacks at times.”

Vikings Claim QB Rosenfels Off Waivers

The Vikings on Friday claimed QB Sage Rosenfels off of waivers. Rosenfels was most recently with the Miami Dolphins, but was placed on waivers on Thursday.

With the addition of Rosenfels and with Donovan McNabb being waived by the team on Thursday, the Vikings have three QBs on the roster – Christian Ponder, Sage Rosenfels and Joe Webb.

This will be Rosenfels’ second stint with the Vikings. He was acquired by the Vikings via trade from the Houston Texans in February of 2009 and spent the ’09 season with the team. Then he was traded from the Vikings to the NY Giants in September of 2010.

Rosenfels, selected in the 4th round of the 2001 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, is an 11-year veteran out of Iowa State University.

Pending Physicals, Vikings Trade Rosenfels, Reynaud

The Vikings on Friday traded QB Sage Rosenfels and RB Darius Reynaud to the NY Giants in exchange for an undisclosed draft choice in the 2011 NFL Draft and a conditional draft choice in the 2012 NFL Draft.

The trade is contingent upon both Rosenfels and Reynaud passing physical examinations with the Giants.

By my (unofficial) count, the trade reduces Minnesota’s roster to 73 players; NFL teams must trim their rosters to the limit of 53 players by 5:00 p.m. CT on Saturday.

Vikings Continue Weighing Options At QB

Since the beginning of training camp the Vikings were certain that they would have 3 QBs to help the team prepare for its 50th season. But now after Brett Favre’s return there’s been a wealth of speculation on what the organization is going to do with its group of backup QBs.

The answer to that question: Nobody knows.

It may even be the case that the Vikings coaches and executives haven’t made a decision yet. The coaching staff will have to cut the roster down to 75 players on Tuesday but the 3 backup QBs will more than likely stay on board to see playing time this Thursday night against the Denver Broncos in the final preseason game at Mall of America Field. The final 53-man roster will be determined on Saturday.

We’ll curb any speculation as to how this scenario will pan out, but with that in mind, each QB has shown their worth to this team throughout the preseason workouts and during the first 3 preseason games.

Here’s what we’ve seen from each backup QB to this point:

As was the case last season, Tarvaris Jackson has spent the preseason as Favre’s backup and earned that role by way of his continued improvement over recent years. In 2007, Jackson guided the Vikings offense to the #13 ranking in the NFL, a jump from #23 in 2006. He was also a key factor to the Purple’s 5-game winning streak toward the end of the season. The 5-year veteran furthered his progression in 2008 by helping the team win 2 of its last 3 games to claim the NFC North title. Week 15 saw #7 throw for 4 TDs while posting a career-best 135.5 passer rating.

During the course of the preseason, Jackson has completed 10 of 18 passes for 58 yards. He has also rushed for 23 yards on 3 attempts with a long of 14 yards. Jackson started the Vikings 1st preseason game against the St. Louis Rams and has backed up Favre for the last 2 games, which may be an indication that he will retain the #2 QB role, but again, that decision has yet to be made. Head coach Brad Childress has mentioned that he’s been impressed with Jackson’s growth and ‘evolution’ during preseason practices.

After his acquisition by the Vikings prior to the 2009 season, Sage Rosenfels has spent his career in purple as the #3 QB. That has continued to be the situation throughout the preseason as Rosenfels has thrown for 392 yards and 4 TDs with a 63.8 completion percentage (30-for-47). The difference this season is that the 10-year veteran seems to have found a higher comfort level under center as a Vikings QB. He’s shown great poise and passing accuracy this preseason.

In what seems to be the wild card in this whole state of affair is the raw athletic ability of rookie QB Joe Webb. Webb was selected by the Vikings in the 6th round (199^th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft and ever since his inception to the organization he’s continued to provide the team with a multitude of options. He began rookie minicamp as a WR but the coaching staff felt it was best suited for the former Blazer to return to his natural position under center. The 1st-year QB was the 1st QB in NCAA history to pass for 2,000+ yards and rush for 1,000+ yards in back-to-back seasons and that ability has seemingly translated to the NFL. Webb has made plays this preseason with his arm and his legs, completing 12 of 21 passes (57.1%) for 91 yards and 2 TDs while rushing the football 7 times for 78 yards and a TD. Webb’s rushing TD came on a 48-yard sprint down the middle of the field where he outran the entire San Francisco 49er defense.

Thursday night’s final preseason game may sway the Vikings coaching staff in one way or another to make a decision, but until Saturday, any guess on which backup QBs will make the final roster is as good as another.

Vikings Top Seahawks 24-13 Behind 4th-Quarter Comeback

Preseason games often times lose their interest past halftime, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday night at Mall of America Field, where the Vikings pulled out a 24-13 come-from behind victory over the Seattle Seahawks to improve their preseason record to 2-1 and, more importantly, move another step closer to opening the 2010 regular season.

Brett Favre and the Vikings 1st team offense racked up 223 yards of offense in the opening 2 quarters but penalties and turnovers compromised scoring opportunities. The Vikings defense dominated Seattle’s 1st team offense, holding them to just 98 net yards of offense in the 1st half. As a result, the teams entered halftime knotted at 10.

Seattle opened up another lead early in the 3rd quarter with an Olindo Mare FG; there was no other scoring in the 3rd period.

But the Vikings offense opened up a bit in the 4th quarter, with both Sage Rosenfels and Joe Webb leading scoring drives. Rosenfels capped his drive by lofting a pass to Javon Walker in the endzone. Walker, acquired earlier in the week, made an acrobatic catch over 2 defenders for the score, giving the Vikings a 17-13 lead after the Ryan Longwell PAT. On the Vikings next possession, Webb entered the game and capped his drive by hitting fellow rookie Ryan D’Imperio. The fullback bullied his way into the endzone for a 7-yard score that gave the Vikings a 24-13 lead.

The scoring ended there and the Vikings came away with their 2nd win of the 2010 preseason. We’ll have more coverage, including a complete game recap, highlights, on-demand video of head coach Brad Childress and Favre’s press conferences and much more.

Hurry-Up Offense Work Highlights Thursday AM Practice

Although they weren’t fully padded up and there was no tackling to the ground, Vikings players were competing about as hard as you’ll see during a training camp practice on Thursday morning and it was a delight to watch. Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress had his squad working on game-ending and hurry-up situations, which ramped up the competitive atmosphere and probably provided some great tape for the coaches to go in and digest early this afternoon.

In 2009, the Vikings had 2 game-winning drives on offense and 1 game-winning drive on defense. The game-winning offensive drives came in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers (Brett Favre to Greg Lewis ring a bell?) and then in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens (Longwell 31-yard FG), and the game-winning drive on defense also came in the Baltimore game when the Ravens were forced to try a 44-yard FG to pull out a win.

“A good little segment today,” Childress said in his opening remarks while meeting with the media after practice. “A couple of two-minute situations that we faced here in the last four or five years. You can’t get enough of that work and just as we reviewed last night, the teams that are coming one way to beat us or we were trying to go one way to beat somebody else, games in this league come down to that quite frequently.”

The first 2-minute situation called upon the 1st-team offense to drive from their own 37-yardline in 2 minutes with 2 timeouts, needing a TD to win the game. Tarvaris Jackson guided the offense down the field and a laser to TE Visanthe Shiancoe put the offense right around the 10-yardline. Jackson hurried the offense down the field to kill the clock, and then with time for 1 final play Jackson hit WR Greg Lewis in the endzone for the TD.

The second 2-minute situation charged the 2nd-team offense with driving from the 80-yardline with 2 minutes to go and 2 timeouts, needing a FG to win. On the 1st play of the series, the play was blown dead because of a sack and loss of 10 yards. Three plays later on 4th down, LB Ben Leber broke up a pass but was called for pass interference, which extended the drive. Another pass interference call several plays later pushed the offense into scoring range and K Rhys Lloyd ultimately came on to split the uprights on a 48-yard FG as time expired.

“Any situation we deal with (in practice), we want to make it game-like,” Jackson told me after practice. “We want to make it as close to the real game as possible so when you get in that situation it’s not new to us.”

A few other notes from this morning’s practice…

– During the early parts of practice, the offense installed its hurry-up package and all 3 teams had an opportunity to execute it against air. Not surprisingly, Jackson looked the most comfortable of the 3 QBs during the drill, Rosenfels was not quite as comfortable and rookie QB Joe Webb struggled the most.

– NFL officials joined the team for practice this morning and will be with the team over the next couple of days. I’m sure this is a common ritual around the league and it’s something the Vikings have done every year under Childress. The officials work with the players and coaches during practice answering questions or pointing out points of emphasis for the coming season; they even call penalties during the team portions of practice.

“We invite those guys into all of our meetings at night and we don’t have any secrets,” Childress said. “If they’ll share with our people – how they’re looking at things and how they’re calling things – it’s their expertise so we don’t make it a closed-door affair. It’s an inclusive deal and they can jump in with offensive linemen, or the secondary, or the wide receivers, wherever they can get better. We’re glad to have them here.”

– One of the Vikings “special categories” periods of practice was an all 3rd-down session. The 1st team offense picked up 1st downs on 3 of 4 plays, the 2nd team was 2 for 4 and the 1st team was 1 for 4.

– I watched the defensive line vs. the offensive line during the 1-on-1 period of practice. Individuals who stood out while winning their 1-on-1 battle were: C Ryan Cook, DT Fred Evans, DT Letroy Guion, LG Steve Hutchinson, LT Bryant McKinnie and DE Brian Robison.

– There was a spirited session of the inside skeleton passing drill between the LBs/Ss and RBs/TEs. In the final matchup of the drill, LB Chad Greenway went up against Shiancoe. Greenway forced an incompletion and the LB group broke out in over-emphasized rejoice to chide Shiancoe. As the players began running away to the next drill, Childress held everyone up and asked for Greenway and Shiancoe to have a rematch. So the 2 players lined up again, this time with the whole team present to watch. At the snap, Shiancoe made a nice move on Greenway to release from the line of scrimmage and wiggled his way open. But Greenway didn’t quit and was able to catch up to Shiancoe and rip the ball from his arms to force another incompletion. The LB group broke out in cheers again and Shiancoe took it very well. It was a fun part of practice and a great display of competitiveness.

– Players who were out of action today included: WR Percy Harvin (personal), WR Sidney Rice (PUP), CB Benny Sapp (illness), CB Cedric Griffin (PUP), RB Darius Reynaud (leg), RB Adrian Peterson (leg) and LB J Leman (leg).

– With Harvin and Rice experiencing extended time away from camp, WR Greg Lewis has gotten reps exclusively with the 1st team offense and he’s taking advantage of the situation by making a positive impression on Childress. When asked about Lewis’ performance so far during camp, Childress referred to Lewis as a “jack of all trades” and a “crafty” player at his position.

– Childress was also asked about DT Letroy Guion and the kind of camp he’s having. Here was his response: “He’s had a good camp. He looks like he’s matured. He came in a couple pounds heavy, but nothing to write home about. I think that’s probably balanced out. I think he understands more about what we’re doing and what we’re asking of him defensively. I think he’s doing a better job rushing the passer and he’s always been stout in the run game.

– The offensive line has looked much better the past 2 days with C John Sullivan back in the fold.

Vikings Conclude A Highlight-Filled Practice #2

Practice #2 of 2010 Verizon Vikings Training Camp was highlight-filled, as the squad begins to hit full stride here in Mankato in preparation for the upcoming season. The team practiced for approximately 2 hours in warm and partly cloudy conditions.

All 3 Vikings coordinators held press conferences following practice, so stay tuned for quotes and comments from that. Also, CJ got together with LB Jasper Brinkley and will have a report on him and the Vikings defense later today.

Tonight is Football and Fireworks Night at Verizon Vikings Training Camp, as the team will practice under the lights from 7:00 p.m. to 8:55 p.m. and then fans will be entertained with a fireworks display right after practice.

Let’s run through a few highlights from this morning’s practice…

– You’ve heard the expression “Welcome to the NFL, rookie” several times in the past. The expression typically represents a moment when an NFL rookie experiences a “wake up” call during practice, usually a big hit that jars them a bit. Rookie RB Toby Gerhart got his “Welcome to the NFL” moment today…a couple times. DT Pat Williams got him first after the RB caught a pass in the right flats and then Brinkley jolted Gerhart a few plays later as he waited to catch another pass. Neither hit was malicious and Gerhart wasn’t the least bit shaken up by them, but it did generate a reaction from the crowd and you know that Williams and Brinkley got a little joy out of the moment.

– There is a drill called the “inside skeleton” where QBs, RBs and TEs work together in a passing exercise against LBs and Ss. In the early part of an inside skeleton drill, both Chad Greenway and Ben Leber stepped in front of passes to nab INTs. Greenway’s came off of rookie Joe Webb and Leber’s came off of veteran Sage Rosenfels. But Rosenfels bounced back right away to complete a pair of nice passes, the first to TE Garrett Mills over Jamarca Sanford and the next one to RB Darius Reynaud over LB Heath Farwell.

– Speaking of Reynaud, the converted RB ran with the 3rd team offense primarily today, with Gerhart and 3-year veteran Albert Young rotating between the 1st and 2nd teams. It’s too early to glean much off of the rotations right now, but it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on.

– While we’re on the topic of depth charts, one spot I’m curious to watch develop during training camp and the preseason is DT. This morning, Fred Evans and Jimmy Kennedy took the most reps with the 2nd team defense.

– CB Antoine Winfield generated some laughs from the crowd this morning. He was standing on the sidelines while WR Greg Lewis and CB Marcus Sherels went head-to-head in the 1-on-1 portion of practice. Lewis and Sherels got locked up right off the line of scrimmage at the snap and eventually Sherels was on the ground and Lewis was running away with a reception. Seeing Sherels thrown to the ground, Winfield tossed his sweat towel in the air to signify a pass interference penalty flag, right in front of the bleachers off of field #1. The crowd got a kick out of it.

– Later during 1-on-1s, CB Lito Sheppard locked up WR Marko Mitchell with an impressive display of press coverage and DeAndre Wright made a nice play on a deep pass down the left sideline that was intended for Logan Payne.

– One of the most impressive offensive plays of the day came when QB Tarvaris Jackson threaded the needle on a pass to TE Visanthe Shiancoe down the right seam during 7-on-7 work.

– And finally, during team work near the end of practice, S Husain Abdullah stepped in front of a Jackson pass to notch an INT. On the play, Jackson executed a play-action fake and then bootlegged to the right. He slipped and tried to get a pass out to the flats anyway, but Abdullah was there to jump the route and pick off the pass.

Childress Talks QBs

The Vikings QB situation – from the status of Brett Favre to the mystery that is Joe Webb – is at the forefront of Vikings chatter among fans as training camp quickly approaches. The Star Tribune’s Chip Scoggins has a few quotes from Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress regarding his QBs.

In regard to Favre, Childress told Scoggins that the 20-year veteran will need “two or three weeks” of time to prepare, an amount of time similar to what he had last season before guiding the team to a 12-4 record and throwing 33 TDs. The Vikings open the regular season with a game on Thursday, September 9 at New Orleans.

While Favre is away from the team, Childress told Scoggins that Tarvaris Jackson will get most of the reps with the 1st team and that Sage Rosenfels will also get a few look. Rookie Joe Webb will work primarily with the 3rd team.

Vikings Wrap Up OTA #10, Host Special Olympics Minnesota Athletes

The rainy conditions subsided in time for the Vikings to work outside during OTA #10 and then host a group of Special Olympic Minnesota athletes at Winter Park on Wednesday. The Vikings went through a typical OTA practice and then several members of the team, including Head Coach Brad Childress, stayed after practice to visit with the SOM participants and take part in a Punt, Pass and Kick clinic.

Prior to the clinic and meet and greet, the SOM group watched OTA #10 from the sidelines, often times cheering after highlight-caliber play.

After the SOM event, Childress met with reporters and addressed a number of topics, and you can view his presser by clicking here.  Also, check out these images from earlier at today’s practice.

For now, here are a few highlights from Wednesday’s action at Winter Park…

– Rookie 4th round DE Everson Griffen was one of the most engaged players during the SOM event following practice. He signed autographs immediately after practice concluded, assisted the participants in the Kick portion of the clinic and then stayed after the SOM event to visit and pose in photos. We talked to Griffen after the SOM event and we’ll include his comments in the video recap of the event that will be posted later this afternoon.

– I spoke with Dave Dorn, President of Special Olympics Minnesota, during practice and he was once again thrilled to have the event at Winter Park after a practice. Dorn said commented that the Vikings have been a great partner throughout the years and that the Punt, Pass and Kick Clinic was an event that began with former Vikings FB Tony Richardson and has continued with the support of both Childress and superstar RB Adrian Peterson.

– Two highlight-caliber plays stuck out to me during practice. One was registered by LB Erin Henderson in the 2nd-to-last play of the inside skeleton drill. He jumped a pass in the middle of the field that was intended for TE Jeff Dugan and thrown by Sage Rosenfels. Henderson caught the pass smoothly and would’ve glided into the endzone for a TD. On the very next play, though, Rosenfels went back to Dugan at the very same spot and the duo completed the pass. The other highlight-caliber play came from QB Tarvaris Jackson and rookie 7th round TE Mickey Shuler. Jackson took a 5-step drop and rifled a pass to Shuler down the right seam. Shuler, who’s made some impressive catches during OTAs, hauled in the pass and continued down the field.

– Players were made available to the media following practice and one of the most popular interviews was WR Logan Payne, a former University of Minnesota Golden Gopher. Payne was signed this offseason after spending time with a few different NFL teams. A few interesting comments from Payne: 1) He said even as a guy whose made an NFL roster in the past, there isn’t much room for error for him and he’s making the most of this opportunity, 2) He had a few other teams interested in bringing him in this offseason but he took a look at the Vikings team and coaching staff and felt comfortable being with the Vikings, and 3) As he comes back from an injury, he feels as fast as he’s ever been during his career.

– While we’re on the topic of former Golden Gophers, I spent a few minutes after Tuesday’s practice with DL Cedric McKinley. He joined the Vikings this offseason as an undrafted rookie free agent and he told me that after playing mostly DE in college he’s been playing a lot of 3-technique here with the Vikings. He also went on to explain that he’s been watching a lot of Kevin Williams’ film and he’s also been impressed with the work ethic Williams has. “I’m having a great experience so far,” McKinley said, “and it’s really a blessing to be a part of this team right now.”