Evidently Brad Childress was serious. Or at least it’s starting to seem like it. 

Childress, slightly amused and mildly annoyed by how the media portrayed his training-camp practices as not being very physical, challenged a member of the press to take part in a 9-on-7 inside running drill. This challenge came while the Vikings were in Mankato.

While I did throw out Mark Craig’s name at the time, Childress evidently didn’t hear me because on Tuesday he said no one had accepted or nominated someone for the challenge. And then Childress said a freelance journalist from New Jersey had faxed in a letter and wanted to participate in a practice.

Craig, to his credit, first asked what type of contract he would get if he accepted and then said he would have to check with the people who run his front office — actually, just his wife — to see if he could give it a go. Meanwhile, it sounds as if Alexander Alperin of Upper Saddle River, N.J., has some publications interested in buying his story about what it would be like to practice with the Vikings. One word comes to mind Alexander: painful.

Childress did appear to have some reservations about Alperin’s application. Looking at the fax, he noted it came from the Adorable Supply Company. (Sounds like something out of a “Seinfield” episode.) “I don’t know what to make of that exactly,” he joked. “Technically he could be a free-lance journalist, right? Just using their fax machine?”

I’m still thinking Childress wants a local media member for this assignment — 10 years and 20 pounds ago I meant have been stupid enough to do it. “He would definitely have to sign a waiver before he came out,” Childress said. “So here it is. If you want to do it, you need to fax it to me. I’ll give you a week to let those faxes show up.”

Thankfully, I recently gave my fax machine away and, thus, even if I wanted to participate it wouldn’t be possible. At least that’s the story I’m sticking with.

Vikings coach Brad Childress said after today’s practice that he has yet to make a decision on whether quarterback Tarvaris Jackson will play in Saturday night’s preseason game against Pittsburgh at the Metrodome. Asked if he had made up his mind on Jackson but simply wasn’t about to talk about the decision, Childress said:

“I really have not. He certainly hasn’t either. When I say we’re pushing the thing like we’re getting ready for Saturday, I understand the urgency if it was a regular-season game, but we’re treating it as if it’s a regular-season game. So I want to see how far he can come in that period of time. What faculties he has as he goes in there.”

Jackson suffered a sprained MCL in his right knee in the first quarter of the Vikings’ victory over Baltimore last Saturday. He has been on the field at the beginning of practice the past two days but it’s uncertain how much work he is doing because the media is only allowed to watch the stretching portion. Childress said Jackson took part in the walk-through this morning and some of the individual work but was held out of 11-on-11 drills.

Jackson has been fitted with a brace for his knee and Childress said the quarterback would be able to wear the device in a game. Childress compared the brace to the one running back Adrian Peterson wore on his knee last season after he was injured.

If Jackson doesn’t play Saturday — and the guess here is that the Vikings won’t take any chances with him — veteran Gus Frerotte will get the start. Childress said the Vikings won’t hold back anything in their approach to Saturday’s game no matter who starts at quarterback. That means the first team offense and defense should play into the third quarter.

“In fact, we had a plan in place where we’d play these guys through the half and we were talking about the fact that Gus needed some snaps with the number ones,” Childress said. “I know it’s easy for me to say after Tarvaris gets hurt but he needed some snaps as opposed to having the [second team] offensive and wide receivers to throw to. That he was able to throw to the No. 1 guys. So we actually were going to bring him out after the half with the ones in this game. Perhaps he’ll get a chance to start with the ones. We’ll just have to see when we get to Saturday.” Read the rest of this entry »

For the second consecutive day, the media was allowed to watch only the stretching portion of practice. Chip and I both feel this team is probably among the best teams in the NFL at stretching. Good stuff. Deep knee bends. All the things you want to see when a team stretches.

During our limited time, we did notice that receiver Sidney Rice was not working with the team and it appears he will sit out today’s practice. We’ll need to get an update on his condition. Rookie center John Sullivan (concussion) also was out for a second consecutive day.

Defensive end Brian Robison (leg) was in uniform and went through the exercises but wasn’t wearing shoulder pads. Backup right tackle Marcus Johnson, who has been sidelined since the preseason opener because of a knee injury, was wearing shoulder pads and it appeared he might do some work.

Receiver Bernard Berrian (toe) also looked as if he was set to take part in at least a portion of the practice. Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson (knee) also was in shoulder pads. Still find it very hard to believe he will play Saturday night against Pittsburgh.

No, the Access Vikings team hasn’t decided to take the day off.

The Vikings are essentially back on a regular schedule now that they’ve returned to Winter Park and thus the days of watching full practices in the morning are long gone. For the next two days, we’ll be watching a brief portion of practice starting at 1:30 p.m. and then have access to players and coaches later in the day.

One thing that did not make today’s paper was the veteran leadership council that coach Brad Childress has assembled for this season. That group includes defensive end Jared Allen; wide receiver Robert Ferguson; quarterback Gus Frerotte; guard Steve Hutchinson; tight end Jim Kleinsasser; linebacker Ben Leber; kicker Ryan Longwell; tight end Visanthe Shiancoe; fullback Thomas Tapeh; defensive tackle Kevin Williams; and cornerback Antoine Winfield.

Free Peterson posters: The Vikings will give away 24×36 inch posters of running back Adrian Peterson to all fans as they depart the Metrodome following Saturday night’s preseason game against Pittsburgh. The image was taken from an original painting by St. Paul native artist Robert Blehert and features Peterson breaking free for a touchdown.

Vikings receiver Bernard Berrian, making one of his regular appearances with KFAN’s Dan Barreiro this evening, said the injury that sidelined him for Saturday’s preseason game in Baltimore is similar to turf toe and is something he dealt with last season while with the Chicago Bears. Berrian isn’t sure if he will play this Saturday in the Vikings’ third preseason game against Pittsburgh and that he and the team are taking things “day-to-day.”

Berrian said after the Baltimore game that he had suffered the injury in the Vikings’ preseason opener against Seattle. He was limited in practice last week and then was held out of the Ravens game. Berrian said he is receiving “a lot of treatment” for the injury and did some work in the swimming pool today.

Berrian spent much of last season undergoing similar treatments for the problem and is hoping that taking care of the toe now will help solve the issue before it again becomes a long-term situation.

“It’s a little bit more than just tedious because you already know kind of what you have to do because I’ve been through it before,” Berrian told Barreiro when asked if the rehab process got boring. “So it’s just getting to that point to where I don’t have to do it. I’m not doing it everyday throughout the whole entire season. I want to rest it up so it’s ready to go for game one [and] I don’t have to worry about it for 16 weeks.”

Berrian was signed to be the Vikings’ top receiver because of his speed and ability to stretch the field. Thus, the Vikings aren’t going to fool around with a toe issue and very well could hold him out of Saturday’s game. That would mean he has three series of action through three preseason games.

Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was unavailable for comment today after practice. Coach Brad Childress said Jackson did some individual work and participated in the walk-through.

Childress said he’s not ruling Jackson in or out for Saturday’s preseason game against Pittsburgh.

“He’s treating it just like he would during a normal game week and the push to Saturday,” Childress said. “That’s an important part of it. Guys don’t always feel chipper the first part of the week when they get dinged up but they find a way to push to Saturday. That’s how he’s approaching the thing. That’s how we’re approaching the thing, to play in Saturday’s game.”

Asked again if that means there’s a possibility Jackson might play Saturday, Childress said: “That’s exactly the way we’re both approaching it.”

Childress’ response is not that surprising considering he does not like to tip his hand in anything. No one really expected Childress to tell us that Jackson is out. It still seems unlikely that Jackson will be on the field Saturday.

Childress said Maurice Hicks has not returned kickoffs yet because he wants to evaluate his younger players. Darius Reynaud and Albert Young have been the primary return guys the first two games.

Backup tackle Drew Radovich said he’s gaining strength back in his left shoulder after dislocating it and hopes to return next week.