Chargers’ next opponent

Minnesota Vikings (6-10 in 2010)

1:15 p.m. Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium

Less than 20 months ago, there was purple in the NFC Championship Game, the Minnesota Vikings falling four points short of the Super Bowl. And then, ahem, the roof caved in.

OK, so it’s a bad line. But the Vikings became such a bad story in such short order, the only good news is that they weren’t on the field when the Mall of America Field dome collapsed and the snow came crashing down last December. So many of the personnel problems are gone — Brett Favre, Randy Moss, Brad Childress — but the damage has been done and it’s going to take a long while for the Vikes to shovel out from the mess.

Of all quarterbacks, the Vikings traded for Donovan McNabb, coming off his own nightmare season in Washington. Speaking of bad lines, too, he’s working behind one of the NFL’s worst blocking units. Which makes it all the more amazing how Adrian Peterson has remained one of the NFL’s pre-eminent running backs, ranking sixth in rushing last year.

Having taken over for the deposed Childress after 10 games last year, new head coach Leslie Frazier got three wins out of Minnesota over the last six games, including an upset of the Philadelphia Eagles. Since then, the Vikes lost one of their best offensive threats (Sidney Rice) and defensive stalwarts (Ray Edwards) to free agency, not to mention team leader Pat Williams.

At the same time, Minnesota has a new offensive coordinator for the first time in five years, and Bill Musgrave’s had to implement his system without benefit of minicamps and OTA’s and all the other things missed due to lockout.

Three players to watch

Donovan McNabb, QB: The Vikings would like McNabb to be kind of like Favre, but without actually being Favre. Meaning, they’re hoping he can be rejuvenated like the Favre who donned the horns in 2009 and played like a kid again, because McNabb’s pretty much getting written off now as old news around the NFL. His arm may still be sore from his last visit to Qualcomm, a 31-23 win by the Chargers over the Eagles in which McNabb threw 55 passes, completing 35 for 450 yards while Michael Vick mostly watched from the sideline.

Adrian Peterson, RB: Musgrave is a highly respected coach, smart enough to not overlook the obvious, which is that any team with Peterson should not be thinking pass-first. As well as he played last year, Peterson indeed should play an even more prominent role this year, and his arrival should be the perfect opening test for a Chargers team that’s going to get run on plenty in AFC West play.

Jared Allen, DE: At some point, Allen may look around the defensive huddle Sunday and wonder where everyone went. Allen was almost his usual dervish self last year with 11 sacks, but he’ll have neither half of the so-called “Williams Wall” in the trenches with him, since Pat Williams is gone and Kevin Williams is sitting out the opener due to a two-game suspension. A Chargers nemesis dating back to his days with the Kansas City Chiefs, Allen has four career sacks in eight games against the Chargers.

Familiar faces

Cam Turner, assistant to the head coach, is the nephew of Chargers head coach Norv Turner. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer’s father, Chuck, coached special teams for the Chargers from 1992-96. And receiver Greg Camarillo spent 2005 on the Chargers’ practice squad and was with the Bolts in 2006, although he never played in a game.

Injury report

None of the players on the Vikings’ 53-man roster was withheld from Minnesota’s opening practice for the Chargers game. The player of the most concern is tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, sidelined much of the preseason with a hamstring issue.

Series history

With each team winning every other game between them, the Chargers and Vikes have split their 10 contests, and it would appear to be San Diego’s turn. Minnesota won the last one, 35-17, a memorable affair of historic significance for both teams. Then a rookie, Peterson ran amok on the Chargers for 296 of the 378 rushing yards amassed by the Vikings, who were in turn embarrassed when Antonio Cromartie caught a missed field goal beneath the goalpost and returned it for a 109-yard TD. This is only the second time since 1982 that the Vikings have played in San Diego.

Did you know?

Minnesota placekicker Ryan Longwell, entering his 15th season, has missed a total of just three of his 46 field-goal attempts over the past two seasons.

Quote:

“We kind of like that we’re under the radar now.” – wide receiver Percy Harvin on the Vikings, who are being widely dismissed as last-place pick, but no longer living the Brett Favre circus.

Read More: Donovan McNabb (QB – MIN), Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings went from first to worst in the NFC North the last two seasons. That’s life in the National Football League where games are decided by razor thin margins and rules are in place to establish competitive fairness across the league. The Vikings’ nose-dive cost Brad Childress his job, opening up the door for veteran defensive assistant Leslie Frazier to try his hand as a head coach for the first time.

After righting the ship down the stretch, Frazier and the Vikings look to rebound and compete for a playoff spot in ‘11. To do so, they’ll have to receive much better quarterback play than they did last season. Hence the trade for Donovan McNabb. Obviously McNabb isn’t considered the long-term solution; that’s where Christan Ponder comes into play. But McNabb could do just fine this year playing indoors and with Adrian Peterson. He’ll have to be better than just average though if the Vikings hope to return to the playoffs. The Chicago Bears look to be better and, of course, the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers won’t be an easy out.

Frazier sure sounds excited about his team’s chances at being solid. On Sunday, Frazier joined KFAN from training camp to talk about the start of camp and the Vikings’ outlook for 2011.

On the signing of Donovan McNabb:

“He was pretty excited about the opportunity. We had some discussions about a lot of different things that needed to be talked about. He was extremely excited about the opportunity to come to Minnesota with the players that we have around him. It didn’t take a whole lot of convincing.”

How concerned he is with McNabb’s struggles in Washington:

“I’ve had a chance to work with Donovan in the past. My first four years in the NFL as a coach and his first four years in the league as a player I was around him, watching his growth and saw what he did for our football team in Philadelphia and throughout his career. There were some bumps in the road in Washington and I didn’t get overly concerned or alarmed about what was happening. I feel like I know Donovan well, I know what his makeup is like, and also have an idea of what the problems were in Washington. I felt like for our football team and the circumstances that we were coming from this offseason he would be a good fit for what we needed to have done.”

On trying to get Chad Greenway and Adrian Peterson locked up long-term:

“Yeah we gotta get Chad taken care of, but Adrian is not far behind. It’s a priority to hopefully secure him in a long-term contract at some point. We will sit down with him and his agent and try to get that done sooner than later.”

Whether or not he believe Minnesota can win the division:

“No doubt about it. No doubt about it. That’s exactly what I’m gonna talk to our team about. I do believe we can win our division without question.”

(Transcription via: SportsRadioInterviews)

Read More: michael jenkins vikings, michael jenkins minnesota vikings, Michael Jenkins (WR – ATL), Braylon Edwards (WR – NYJ), James Jones (WR – GBP), Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings

In the Minnesota Vikings’ quest for a wide receiver this off-season, the fancies of many fans had turned to either James Jones, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, or Braylon Edwards, late of the New York Jets.

On Saturday afternoon, the Vikings signed. . .neither of them.

Instead, the team has reached a three-year agreement with wide receiver Michael Jenkins, who spent the first seven years of his career with the Atlanta Falcons. This means that Jenkins is re-joining former Falcons’ quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave, who is the new offensive coordinator for the Vikings.

Jenkins was the Falcons’ first round pick, the 29th overall selection, in the 2004 NFL Draft after playing his college ball at Ohio State University. The 6’4″, 215-pound Jenkins has caught 276 passes in his career, for 3,512 yards and 20 touchdowns.

The Vikings will officially start their 2011 training camp tomorrow in Mankato, and hopefully we will have updates of more rookie signings prior to the team getting on the field on Sunday.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Mr. Reliable is headed back to Minnesota.

Kicker Ryan Longwell said in a text message to The Associated Press on Wednesday night that he has agreed to terms on a four-year contract to return to the Vikings.

“We’re excited to be back!” Longwell said.

The Vikings didn’t hesitate to give the steady, 15-year veteran a four-year deal, even though he will turn 37 in August. If anything, Longwell has gotten better with age, posting the two highest field goal percentages of his career over the last two seasons in the comfy confines of the Metrodome.

Last season, he went 17 for 18 (a career-high 94.4 percent) on field goals and 30 for 31 on extra points. The previous season, Longwell made 26 of 28 (92.9 percent) of his field goals.

The deal means Longwell will be back in Minnesota for a sixth season after spending his first nine years in the league with the rival Green Bay Packers.

Longwell cannot officially sign the contract until Friday under terms of the new labor deal.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — This is the time of year Tarvaris Jackson is used to facing all those questions about Brett Favre.

Jackson let out a hearty laugh Tuesday when asked if this summer has been strange without that. The former Vikings quarterback has been working out in Minnesota, waiting for the NFL lockout to end. He’ll be a free agent in search of a new team, trying again to prove he can be a reliable starter after five injury-filled years with the Vikings.

Favre is retired, apparently for good. So Jackson doesn’t have to worry about sharing his feelings or handling his frustration over that situation any longer. He says he wishes his career would’ve worked out better in Minnesota, but that he harbors no ill will.