EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN. (AP) - Brett Favre’s name has appeared frequently on the NFL’s weekly injury report over 20 seasons of sprains, strains and painful hits.
This might be the last time: The Minnesota Vikings declared the 41-year-old doubtful to play at Detroit, due to the lingering effects of a concussion.
Favre wore his red quarterback jersey, but he didn’t have a helmet on and didn’t participate in any drills during Friday’s practice. Interim coach Leslie Frazier declined to address whether Favre has passed the post-concussion testing required by the league to return to action.
Favre suffered the head injury against Chicago on Dec. 20 and missed the last game at Philadelphia because of it, the second time in three weeks he sat out after his all-time record consecutive starts streak ended.
“I’m going to just leave it as doubtful for now, without going into any detail about it,” Frazier said, adding: “If we leave him doubtful, it should cover things with him. Never rule him out.”
As of Thursday morning, Favre hadn’t passed the tests.
Favre didn’t speak to reporters this week, but Frazier described his attitude as positive. While teammates stretched and warmed up before practice, Favre did a little dancing on the side while music by Michael Jackson and Vanilla Ice blared on the speakers.
Running back Adrian Peterson (knee) was listed as probable, but wide receiver Sidney Rice hadn’t yet passed his post-concussion tests and was listed as doubtful to face Detroit. He took a helmet-to-helmet hit during Tuesday’s game against the Eagles.
Rice is one of several high-profile players with expiring contracts and thus uncertain futures, with the labor dispute and the possibility of a lockout looming.
“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 pushed a stay-focused mentality to his players since taking over the job when Brad Childress was fired in late November.
“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.”
Notes: Frazier said starting safety Madieu Williams (concussion) will be placed on injured reserve and cornerback Marcus Sherels will be promoted from the practice squad for extra depth if starter Asher Allen (abdomen) can’t play. … Cornerback Cedric Griffin was voted the team’s winner of the annual Ed Block Courage Award, for coming back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the NFC championship game last January. He returned in late September, tore the ACL in the right knee two weeks later and landed on IR. Griffin said he’ll probably start running with a brace next week.
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