NFL Update: The end of Minnesota Vikings’ Brett Favre
Over the last 20 seasons in the NFL, Brett Favre’s name has appeared on injury reports the most often.
Ranging from everything from strains and sprains to broken bones, the concussion sustained two weeks ago and the strained sternoclavicular joint in his throwing shoulder might be the last of his injuries. The Minnesota Vikings have listed the 20 year veteran
as doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions due to persisting effects of his concussion.
In practice on Friday, Favre wore his red jersey, meaning no contact. He did not have a helmet on and did not take part in any of the team drills. Leslie Frazier, interim head coach for the Vikes, has not addressed Favre’s status for Sunday or looked into
the matter of whether or not he has passed the mandatory baseline neurological tests for concussions, as required by the league.
Favre sustained the concussion on December 20 against the Chicago Bears and was not playing in Tuesday’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles due to it. This is the second time that Favre has been out in three weeks, after missing his 298th consecutive
regular season game in early December.
"I'm going to just leave it as doubtful for now, without going into any detail about it,"
Frazier said. "If we leave him doubtful, it should cover things with him. Never rule him out."
Favre still had to pass the baseline tests as of Thursday.
He has not spoken to reporters all week but Frazier said that the 41 year old quarterback was positive. As teammates were warming up for practice on Friday, Favre was dancing on the side to Vanilla Ice and Michael Jackson to keep the mood light.
Wide receiver Sidney Rice still hasn’t passed his concussion tests after taking a helmet to helmet hit and is listed as doubtful, while running back Adrian Peterson is listed as probable after a knee injury.
Rice is one of the many star players on the Vikings with contracts about to expire and thus questionable futures, what with the possibility of a lockout ahead due to labor disputes.
"Whatever happens after Sunday, I have no idea what it's going to be," Rice said.
"I'm just going to be sitting back listening to the feedback from my agent and the guys here."
Frazier has been telling his players to stay focused since acquiring the job in November, after the firing of Brad Childress.
"I think it's gone as well as could be expected, considering the circumstances that I inherited and just knowing how things were," Frazier said.
"It was not the most enviable position to step into. There were more things going on beyond just football that had to be dealt with in order to bring our team together. ... Just makes me so proud of our players."
The Vikes will play the Lions on Sunday January 2 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.
Stay tuned!
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