With only one day of practice between Monday night’s game against Houston and Friday night’s upcoming game against Dallas, Brad Childress confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that he will sit most of his starters, including Brett Favre.
“I think we’ll be able to get enough work out here [Thursday], we’ll do a couple things with our starting group, and I think through the week next week we’ll be OK,” Childress said. “But I don’t see the upside of [playing Favre]. I thought he made a nice jump from week one to week two and showed he’s got a good understanding of what we’re doing.”
With Favre and company watching from the sidelines, it still remains unclear who will start at quarterback, but it would make sense that John David Booty sees plenty of action. He did not play at all on Monday night.
The main goal against Dallas is to sort out the final 53-man roster. With several players hovering around the border (i.e. WR Darius Reynaud, C Jon Cooper, LB Erin Henderson, LB Kenny Onatolu, CB Karl Paymah, S Jamarca Sanford, etc.), the coaching staff will need as information as possible when they go back and analyze the film.
“We’ve got guys that are fighting to make this 53-man roster,” Childress said. “I tell these guys, ‘don’t count numbers and lines.’ This is what some of these guys dream of doing, and I want to make sure they can put their best foot forward and give some of these younger guys an opportunity to play.”
For many of those younger players, Saturday’s cuts certainly loom in the back of their minds as the hours count down to Friday’s game.
“Without a doubt,” Sanford said. “Like coach told us, don’t let a player from the Cowboys get you off the team. This is the last cut. We’re going from 75 to 53. That’s a lot of players getting cut, so you’ve got to go out this week and just approach it like you’ve been approaching the rest of the weeks, but just know that there’s more on the line this week.
“Just do your job and don’t let the next guy outplay you.”
When it comes to shaving the roster down to 53, specific plays in key spots can give certain players edges over others. Take that goal line stand against Kansas City to end the game in week 2 of the preseason for example.
“There are a couple different players that made nice plays there on that occasion,” Childress said, “and I think where you saw it kind of show it’s head again was just in those fourth down situations [last week]. You could see a level of urgency, and we actually talked about that. They’re carrying the torch, they’re carrying it out. We don’t have any less expectations when they enter the game. No matter who goes down, when a guy comes in the game, whether it’s all 11, that’s the kind of culture they have.”
Notes
- Wide receivers Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin have made a point to stay after practice whenever possible to take extra throws from Brett Favre, or to simply work on their conditioning by running up and down a nearby hill.
“Just trying to learn the things that he’s seeing, and what he wants us to realize as we’re running our routes,” Rice said. “That’s been a big help so far, and hopefully we can continue to do the same thing and build.”
Rice also said he’s pleasantly surprised by Favre’s sense of humor and jovial attitude.
“I wasn’t expecting him to be that type of person. You shouldn’t judge people by what you hear about them until you meet them, but I didn’t know what to expect from him because I was hearing all these stories about how he was when he was other places before here. I think he’s a great guy, personally. He’s a great guy, a great leader.”
Schism.
- Adrian Peterson received the FedEx Ground Player of the Year Award after practice. He’s good at football.
With this award, Peterson donates $25,000 to help a local school in Plymouth create a safer pedestrian environment for its kids.