Jackson: “We’ve got to find ourselves”
Reported by: Phil Mackey
Updated August 12, 2009
Email: PMac@kfan.com

Oh boy…

If people had questions about the Vikings’ quarterback situation heading into training camp, Wednesday morning’s practice session – the final one in Mankato – did nothing to provide answers.

Wednesday morning marked the was easily the sloppiest, chippiest, and most unsatisfying practice – at least from an offensive standpoint – in the two weeks of training camp. As has been the case almost every day, the first team defense stymied the first team offense, making Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels look like they were playing about two notches slower than the opposition.

At one point during full team practice, Jackson threw back-to-back interceptions sandwiched between two near-interceptions. Four straight passes that either were, or should have been picked off.

Rosenfels was hardly any better, although he only threw one interception – a short pass to RB Albert Young that was tipped into the arms of LB Erin Henderson.

All in all, both quarterbacks looked extremely sloppy, and the passing game has not noticeably improved at all throughout the two weeks of training camp. Coaches were visibly upset all morning at the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and offensive linemen.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Jackson said. “We’ve got to kind of find ourselves. We know we can run the football, we’ve proven that. We’ve just go tot get our offense, as far as pass game… Like coach said, when we have to throw the football, can we do it?”

So far, the answer is no.

“It’s promising, but it’s nowhere near where it needs to be,” said Visanthe Shiancoe, who has actually had an extremely productive camp. “We have work to do. We have to all get on the same page.”

Brad Childress, although clearly annoyed with his offense the last two days, was complimentary during his post-practice press conference, praising the work ethic of his squad.

“These guys have accomplished about everything we could here after the course of time,” Childress said. “It’s a great bunch of guys to work with. They practiced hard, they pushed each other, and there’s great competition at a number of different positions. I’m exited to watch them play in all three phases Friday night.”

The only thing that hasn’t been accomplished is establishing which quarterback is capable of running the offense.

Going out on a limb here… But finding a competent quarterback could play a key role in winning games.

As far as who starts on Friday night in Indianapolis, Childress has yet to make a decision. The team will stay inside Wednesday afternoon to install a gameplan, and over the next couple days Childress will decide who is quarterback will be in the first quarter. Probably Jackson.

We likely won’t have a definitive answer on who starts in the regular season until at least week three of the preseason. But with how things have played out the last two weeks, the Vikings may be searching for answers for quite some time.

News and Notes

- Bernard Berrian, who left practice briefly on Tuesday afternoon because of illness, did not practice on Wednesday.

Center John Sullivan left practice with an ankle injury, although it doesn’t appear to be anything serious.

Percy Harvin left practice with an apparent shoulder injury after he was sandwiched between defenders during a 7-on-7 drill. WR coach George Stewart was irate, basically telling defenders to stop crunching his star receiver during non-contact drills.

- Overall, practice seemed to lack tempo and flow. The quarterbacks obviously struggled, but some of that falls on the shoulders of wide receivers and offensive lineman as well. Not to mention running backs, who still miss blocking assignments too often.

It’s now clear why Childress had the first team offense face off against the second team defense frequently earlier this week.

- Visanthe Shiancoe was money on the mic today.

When asked about what, specifically, the offense needs to work on, said, “Timing, timing, timing. And working on our adjustments, our blitz drills especially. Because they’re going to blitz us initially I think until we stop the blitz. Once we [stick it to them], they’ll stop blitzing.”

(Shiancoe’s original quote was not kid-friendly… But you get the idea.)

He continued on when asked about grooming the offense in preseason games.

“We don’t know who the hell’s going to be the damn quarterback, so we’ve go tot get used to everyone’s technique, everyone’s ins and outs, so it’s important to get to work with both [quarterbacks]. [Playing with Sage] is like having a new girlfriend, man. You’ve got to learn her.”

- No fights broke out at camp, but players were definitely chippy on Wednesday. Another day or two could have resulted in some shoving matches.

“Camp has definitely got to everybody, and I guess we’re sick and tired of seeing each other every damn day,” Shiancoe said. “We were a little feisty today, and yesterday, so if we would practice again tomorrow, it’d probably be a little bit worse.”

Childress agreed.

“It’s about that time. They’d rather hit somebody else than somebody that they’ve been strangling the whole training camp. They’re a little bit too close for comfort.”