Waiting with Bated Breath
Reported by: Nick Ehrenberg
Updated August 1, 2009
Email: booth@kfan.com

Audio: Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell on Tarvaris Jackson

UPDATE: Initial reports have listed Jackson's injury as a left MCL sprain. The reports say the sprain is a Grade 1, and Jackson may be listed as day-to-day.

For a few, harrowing minutes, the Vikings quarterback competition seemed to end abruptly. While visions of Brett Favre no longer danced in Vikings fans' minds, they instead witnessed Tarvaris Jackson writhing in pain on the practice field.

Jackson ran through numerous 11-on-11 drills in the east field, but one drill left him on the ground for over a minute. To the great relief of the established crowd, however, Jackson rose to his feet and carefully limped back to the locker room. Neither Brad Childress nor offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell were willing to divulge Jackson's condition after morning practice.

Prior to the injury, Jackson took the majority of snaps with the first string, although Childress cycled in Sage Rosenfels and John David Booty for a few drills. Coach Bevell stated that he looked for consistency among the three quarterbacks.

“At this time, I think Tarvaris has a little bit more knowledge of our system,” Bevell said. “He's an athletic quarterback, he has a very strong arm. Sage still has good feet, although he doesn't run as well as Tarvaris. The arm strengths are different, but there are still things that both of them do well.”

With the Favre saga waning, Bevell touted his current lineup and stated his expectations at the position.

“We are looking for a level of excellence at [quarterback], and a level of consistency that we know we can count on day in and day out,” Bevell said.

News and Notes:

• Two days into Training Camp, and still no sign of first round draft pick Percy Harvin. The fans anxiously waited for the explosive wide receiver to emerge from campus, but to no avail. We shall see if he makes a late appearance in the team's night practice.

• Fresh off of a multiple toe injury early last season, linebacker EJ Henderson returned to the Vikings lineup. The veteran seemed at home again, and even gathered other defensive players for a short chat prior to practice. Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was pleasantly surprised by the move.

• “It was a tremendous loss a season ago not to have [Henderson],” Frazier said. “In our first practice, he brought the whole defense together and just talked to them about what he sees in every guy ... really just challenging them to work hard all day and have a championship attitude.”

• Wide receiver Bobby Wade was still hounded by media for his comments on Brian Urlacher and Jay Cutler, though for his part, he didn't really show frustration with the questioning. Perhaps he's just happy to be the center of attention for the day.
  

I'll provide a night practice update later tonight. Check the KFAN Twitter account for updates throughout the day, and for Jackson's condition if released.