They are tied together, Leslie Frazier and Donovan McNabb, by a
13-year relationship that helped bring the veteran quarterback to
Minnesota back in July.

That relationship, built on trust and communication, has become
more important than ever as criticism of both player and coach
starts to mount in the wake of an 0-4 start that is the worst for
the Vikings since 2002.

The two met on Monday after a 22-17 loss to Kansas City. Frazier
has faced questions about some of his in-game decisions and
McNabb’s inconsistency has some calling for rookie Christian Ponder
to take over.

So the two old friends are leaning on each other to try to get
the Vikings turned around.

“The fact that we have a history together makes it a little
easier to be pointed in conversations and not have to dance around
issues and vice versa,” Frazier said Wednesday. “Both of us being
able to communicate on that level, it does help.”

Frazier was hired as a defensive assistant on Andy Reid’s staff
in Philadelphia in 1999 when the Eagles drafted McNabb in the first
round. They entered the league together and found common ground in
their faith and levelheaded approach to a game that can include
wild swings in emotion from week to week.

Frazier wanted McNabb more than any other available veteran
quarterback when the Vikings went looking this summer after the
retirement of Brett Favre. Convinced the lockout made it close to
impossible for Ponder to be ready, Frazier wanted an established
veteran who could help the Vikings avoid a rebuilding year.

He turned to McNabb, who was benched twice during a forgettable
year in Washington, over other candidates like Matt Hasselbeck,
Bruce Gradkowski and Kerry Collins.

“That definitely made a difference,” Frazier said at the time.
“Our past, the fact that we came in the league together, my term as
a first-year coach with the Eagles and his rookie year as a player.
So, that made a difference in the conversation, my familiarity with
him and vice versa.”

McNabb took a significant pay cut to complete the trade and come
to Minnesota, hoping to revive his career and trusting his
relationship with his new coach.

“I remember watching his kids grow up,” McNabb said. “Now his
kids are taller than I am.”

Running a new offense without a summer to get it down, McNabb
ranks 30th in the league in yards passing, 28th in yards per
completion and 22nd in completion percentage.

Playing under a heavy rush on most occasions, he is completing
just 37 percent of his passes on third down. That has kept the
Vikings from sustaining drives, particularly in the second half as
they’ve let games slip away.

That prompted the meeting on Monday, and McNabb said he also met
with offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and quarterbacks coach
Craig Johnson to “iron out some wrinkles” in the offense.

“We sat down on Monday and went into detail about where we are,
where we need to be and what has to be done going forward,” Frazier
said. “I think we’re on the same page, we know what we have to get
done. I know he’s eager to get back on the field, eager to play
another game and helping to right the ship.”

With NFC North rivals Green Bay and Detroit both off to 4-0
starts, the Vikings’ prospects of contending for a playoff spot are
daunting. Some fans have called for Ponder to take over on Sunday
against Arizona (1-3) and for the Vikings to turn their focus to
building for the future around the 12th overall pick.

But Frazier is standing firmly in McNabb’s corner. He said the
Vikings have plenty of problems right now, but quarterback isn’t
one of them. Frazier saw progress in McNabb’s performance against
the Chiefs, when he completed 18 of 30 passes for 202 yards, two
touchdowns and an interception.

That support, that open line of communication that clearly was
not there in Washington last season, is hitting home with
McNabb.

“We’ve been through four losses, that’s over and now it’s time
to move on,” McNabb said. “I look for positive things to happen in
these upcoming weeks. He does the same way, and the rest of the
team does as well.”

Frazier also was close with Favre and stuck with him at
quarterback even when the 41-year-old was hobbled by injury and
throwing interceptions left and right at the end of last season.
But Frazier was the interim coach then, and the season was already
lost.

Now that the job, and the responsibility, is totally his, no
amount of admiration or respect will be able to keep him from
benching McNabb if the team’s struggles continue.

In some ways, the real test of their relationship has yet to
come.

“What gets you to the point where you are looking at the
quarterback position like so many are doing?” Frazier said. “What
has created that conversation? Our record has a lot to do with
that.

“In my case, it’s more about our entire team, what’s best for
our team as we’re making the decision. That’s purely what it’s
about. What’s the best thing for our team at this point.”

___

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Read More: andrew luck sweepstakes, suck for luck, suckforluck, Donovan McNabb (QB – MIN), Kerry Collins (QB – IND), Andrew Luck (QB – Stanford), Curtis Painter (QB – IND), Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, Stanford Cardinal

Entering the 2011 NFL season, many people figured the Minnesota Vikings would struggle, but they also viewed the addition of Donovan McNabb as enough to get them to at least a mediocre level. Through three games however, the Vikings are struggling in numerous areas and suddenly find themselves 0-3 with a tough NFC North schedule of games coming up soon. The Vikings had a chance to get their first win against the Lions but blew a 20-0 first half lead en route to a 26-23 overtime loss. Those kinds of losses will only help in the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes.

The Suck For Luck campaign is already heating up as the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs are the current front runners. They both attempted to get that elusive first win on Sunday but couldn’t quite make it happen. The Colts gave the Pittsburgh Steelers all they could handle, but cam up just short. The Chiefs worked hard to fight back from 10-0 and 20-10 deficits but could not quite make it happen and fell 20-17.

The most interesting development in the Suck For Luck campaign was the change in quarterback in Indianapolis. Kerry Collins reportedly suffered a concussion in the loss and was replaced by Curtis Painter. Late in the fourth quarter, Painter drove the Colts down for a game-tying touchdown with 2:06 remaining. The Steelers got the game-winning field goal on the ensuing drive, but one has to wonder how Painter could impact the Colts. He has struggled in preseason performances but Reggie Wayne came out in favor of the young quarterback. If he can get some level of success moving forward, the Colts might not be so Luck-y.

The Seattle Seahawks remain a prime candidate for Luck but they managed a home win over the Arizona Cardinals. The NFC West is struggling to the point that the Seahawks might find themselves the unintended beneficiaries of a few wins just due to the state of their division.

Miami dropped to 0-3 as well with a tough 17-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns. They’ve shown enough that I’m not sure they have what it takes to stink up the joint all year long. Of course, at the beginning of the season I also said that I thought Indy would do decently with Collins. Shows what I know.

This week features our first Suck For Luck showdown between the 0-3 Minnesota Vikings and 0-3 Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are entering what could be a pivotal two-game stretch as they host the Vikings and then travel to face the Colts. This could be make-or-break time for the Chiefs in that battle for the number one pick in the 2012 NFL Draft.

By Christopher Gates

– Managing Editor

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Sep 23, 2011 – For much of the past decade, fans of the Minnesota Vikings have been able to look at the schedule every April, find where the Detroit Lions are located, and feel pretty good about winning during those weeks. After all, the Vikings have won 18 of the last 21 games in this series, and over the course of the history of the franchise, the Vikings have more wins over Detroit than over any other team.

However, this Sunday could mark a shift in that trend, as the Lions come into this game red-hot on both sides of the ball, and are actually expected to win this weekend in Minneapolis, a city they haven’t won in since December of 1997.

Detroit comes into this week’s game tied for the lead in the NFC North with a 2-0 record. In Week One, they went on the road and defeated the same Tampa Bay Buccaneers that the Vikings lost to last week by a score of 27-20. Then, in their home opener last weekend, the Lions flat-out annihilated the Kansas City Chiefs by a final tally of 48-3, finishing the game with 41 unanswered points. Through the season’s first two weeks, the Lions are second in the NFL in points scored, averaging 37.5 points per contest, and they’re also second in the NFL in points allowed with an average of 11.5 points allowed per game.

For the Vikings, on the other hand, both of their games have been a tale of two halves. In the first halves of their two games, they’ve outscored the San Diego Chargers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a combined total of 34-7. In the second half of those two games, they’ve been outscored by those two teams to the tune of 41-3, and that’s why the Vikings sit at 0-2 after the first two weeks of the 2011 season. The Vikings really need to get their second half woes figured out if they want this season to be anything short of an outright flop.

In past years, a visit from the Detroit Lions would have been looked upon by Vikings fans as a chance for the team to “get healthy” and get themselves back on the right track. However, with the roll that Detroit is on and the problems that Minnesota is currently facing, that certainly isn’t the case in this one.

Kickoff for this game from the Metrodome is scheduled for 12:00 PM Central time on Sunday.

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At the far end of an almost silent locker room, Chad Greenway sat at his stall, staring into his locker in stunned disbelief after the Minnesota Vikings let a 17-0 halftime lead slip away against Tampa Bay.

“Almost just bewildered to the point where it couldn’t happen again,” Greenway said. “Especially the way we were playing. Everyone was flying around and making plays and getting off the field on third down. Just extremely disappointed in how it all shook out today.”

For the second week in a row, the Vikings let a halftime lead get away from them. This time, they wasted a dominating performance in the first two quarters in falling 24-20 to the Buccaneers on Sunday, dropping them to 0-2.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns, Percy Harvin had seven catches for 76 yards, and the defense was getting pressure on Josh Freeman throughout the first half. But it all seemed to dry up in the final two quarters as Freeman rallied the Bucs to 14 points in the fourth to steal the victory.

“My first thought that goes through my mind is, ‘Wow, we gave the game away,’” Peterson said.

The star back bulldozed Ronde Barber on a 9-yard scoring run less than a minute before halftime to give the Vikings a 17-0 lead. The Vikings outgained Tampa Bay 284-62 in the first two quarters and looked to be running away with the game.

Then LeGarrette Blount ripped off a 27-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter and Donovan McNabb one-hopped a throw to an open Visanthe Shiancoe in the end zone, forcing the Vikings to settle for a field goal.

Freeman threw a 25-yard TD pass to Arrelious Benn with 6:39 to play, then drove the Bucs 61 yards in the final four minutes to cap his eighth career comeback victory. Blount polished off the drive with a 4-yard run with 31 seconds to play.

“When you play as well as we were playing, to have the tide turn as quickly and dramatically as it did, that’s frustrating,” coach Leslie Frazier said. “We’ve got to come back on Monday and figure out what the problem is and get it fixed in a hurry.”

Frazier was asked about not using any of his timeouts to stop the clock on the Bucs’ last drive to leave more time for his offense.

“I really thought that we were going to stop them on defense,” Frazier said. “I really did — force them to kick a field goal or come up with a turnover.”

The Vikings led the San Diego Chargers 17-7 at halftime of the season opener but couldn’t get anything going offensively in the second half of a 24-17 loss.

McNabb passed for just 39 yards in that game, but looked much better Sunday. He completed 18 of 30 passes for 228 yards, going downfield with more success and looking nimble on designed rollouts.

The Vikings finished with 398 total yards and didn’t commit a turnover until Percy Harvin was credited with a fumble while trying to lateral the ball on the last play of the game.

But the Vikings had two drives stall inside the 20, forcing them to settle for field goals that proved costly as the Buccaneers mounted their comeback.

Defensive ends Jared Allen and Brian Robison were in Freeman’s face throughout the first half, but the third-year pro started getting rid of the ball quicker in the second to neutralize the rush.

Blount started finding some seams in the run defense as well, rushing for 67 of his 71 yards over the final two quarters.

Freeman was 22 for 31 for 243 yards with one touchdown and one interception and Preston Parker had six catches for 98 yards.

“They kicked the crap out of us in the second half and that sucks because we were dominating them in the first half and we were playing like I know we can,” Allen said. “We’ve got to find a way to play for 60 minutes.”

Now the Vikings find themselves at the bottom of the NFC North, with the vastly improved Detroit Lions (2-0) coming to town next week brimming with confidence.

“We have to put it together,” Greenway said. “I don’t know if it’s our conditioning. I couldn’t even tell you what it was. Unfortunately we just have to deal with it right now. It’s going to be a rough week and we just have to stick together and hope (the media isn’t) too hard on us.”

NOTES: Peterson’s first TD of the game, a 1-yard run at the end of the first quarter, was the 53rd of his career. That broke Chuck Foreman’s franchise record. Peterson also surpassed 6,000 yards rushing for his career. … Vikings CB Chris Cook left the game in the first half with a strained groin and did not return. Asher Allen filled in at nickel back in Cook’s absence. … RB Toby Gerhart had the two longest plays of his young career with a 31-yard run and a 42-yard reception in the first half. … After being shut out last week, Shiancoe had three catches for 28 yards against the Bucs.

By Christopher Gates

– Managing Editor

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Sep 16, 2011 – Two teams that got off to 0-1 starts to their 2011 NFL seasons will meet on Sunday afternoon at the Metrodome, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will come to town to battle the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota appeared to have a very good San Diego Chargers team on the ropes in their season opener, paced by a 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Percy Harvin that highlighted a great first half for the Vikings. Minnesota intercepted Philip Rivers twice, and basically held the Chargers in check en route to a 17-7 halftime lead. However, the Minnesota offense fell apart in the second half, leaving the defense on the field far too long and, eventually, causing them to wear out. San Diego scored 17 unanswered points in the second half, and took the game away from Minnesota with a 24-17 victory.

Tampa Bay started their season off with a loss at home to the Detroit Lions. Promising young quarterback Josh Freeman threw for 245 yards and a touchdown, but the Lions held the Buccaneers to just 56 yards on 16 carries. Freeman was actually the leading rusher for Tampa Bay, as running back LeGarrette Blount was held to 15 yards on five carries. The Buccaneers got an interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Aqib Talib, but did not register a sack against a suspect Detroit offensive line, and allowed Matthew Stafford to throw for 305 yards and three touchdowns.

No team can really “afford to lose” at any point in an NFL season, but this loss would be much more devastating for the Vikings than it would be for Tampa Bay. In Tampa’s case, every team in the NFC South lost their opener, so falling to 0-2 would still allow them to be a part of the division race. Minnesota, however, was the only team in the NFC North to suffer a loss in the first week of the season, and falling to 0-2 would be a huge problem for them in the race for a division title and a playoff berth.

Kickoff for this one is scheduled for noon Central time. We will have full coverage of all of the proceedings for you right here on SB Nation Minnesota.

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New York, NY (PRWEB) September 09, 2011

Vikings vs Chargers Live 2011 NFL Regular season kicks off this week in East Vikings . Minnesota Vikings vs San Diego Chargers Live Streaming NFL Regular Season Coverage starts at Sunday, 1:00 PM EDT .The game Vikings vs Chargers will be televised on NBC.

Vikings vs Chargers Live – http://www.usanfltv.com/

Minnesota Vikings vs San Diego Chargers Match preview :

This is a perfect opening day matchup as both teams Minnesota Vikings vs San Diego Chargers are built to take advantage of the other’s weaknesses. The Minnesota Vikings are designed to run the ball around and through the opposition all game long, something the Chargers are not overly adept at preventing.

On the other side of the ball, the Chargers present one of the very best passing attacks in the NFL and go up against a defense that is notorious for their lack of a pass rush.The family of a man killed in an alleged hit-and-run has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against former Minnesota Vikings tight end Joe Senser and his wife.

Thirty-eight-year-old Anousone Phanthavong (ah-NOO’-sahn PAN’-tah-wong) of Roseville was hit after he ran out of gas on an Interstate 94 ramp in Minneapolis late last month.Although the San Diego Chargers play the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday, the real opponent may be in Los Angeles, where politicians and developers are working to build an NFL stadium and lure a team to relocate.

Although the San Diego Chargers play the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday, the real opponent may be in Los Angeles, where politicians and developers are working to build an NFL stadium and lure a team to relocate.

Minnesota Vikings :

Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion team in 1960. They compete in the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC).

Owner(s) – Zygi Wilf (majority)

Chairman – Zygi Wilf

President – Mark Wilf

General manager – Rick Spielman

(Vice President of Player Personnel)

Head coach – Leslie Frazier

San Diego Chargers :

San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. As of 2011[update] they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL).

Owner(s) – Alex Spanos

(George Pernicano, minority owner with 3% share)

CEO – Dean Spanos

President – Dean Spanos

General manager – A. J. Smith

Head coach – Norv Turner

•      Home Favorite: 0 Win -0 Lost (PF)N/A – (PA)N/A
•      Home Underdog: 0 Win -0 Lost (PF)N/A – (PA)N/A
•      Road Favorite: 0 Win -0 Lost (PF)N/A – (PA)N/A
•      Road Underdog: 0 Win -0 Lost (PF)N/A – (PA)N/A
•      Last 3 game: 0 Win 0 Lost (PF)0 – (PA)0
•      Last 5 game: 0 Win 0 Lost (PF)0 – (PA)0
•      Last 7 game: 0 Win 0 Lost (PF)0 – (PA)0
•      Last 10 game: 0 Win 0 Lost (PF)0 – (PA)0
•      Last 15 game: 0 Win 0 Lost (PF)0 – (PA)0

Vikings vs Chargers Live – http://www.usanfltv.com/

###

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)

Vikings arrive in Mankato

By Chad Courrier

Free Press Staff Writer
The Mankato Free Press

Sun Jul 31, 2011, 05:52 PM CDT

Copyright
2011
The Free Press, Mankato, MN. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed.

McNabb had to agree to restructure the five-year, $78 million deal he signed with the Redskins because the Vikings don’t have enough cap room to fit him in with the way the deal is structured. The terms of his new deal were not immediately available.

The finalized agreement, which was first reported by ESPN, also includes a conditional sixth-round pick in 2013 if McNabb meets certain performance-based criteria.

McNabb gives the Vikings a veteran quarterback while they groom first-round draft pick Christian Ponder, who was drafted 12th overall out of Florida State in April to be the team’s long-term answer at the position. The original preference for coach Leslie Frazier and the Vikings was to have Ponder start Week 1 in San Diego, with a veteran backup there just in case.

That was before the NFL lockout prevented players from working out with coaches all summer and put Ponder behind schedule in his development. That makes it more imperative for the Vikings, who had Brett Favre on the roster the past two seasons, to add a quarterback they think can win games with a roster full of veterans while Ponder gets up to speed.

From the sounds of it, Ponder isn’t conceding anything just yet.

“Excited to have McNabb join,” Ponder wrote on Twitter on Wednesday morning, perhaps jumping the gun just a little bit. “Will learn a lot from a Pro Bowler. But that doesn’t mean I’m not still fighting to start week 1!”

The trade ends a tumultuous one-year run in Washington for McNabb. The 12-year veteran was benched twice last season and threw 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 13 games. He completed 58 percent of his passes for 3,377 yards, and his agent Fletcher Smith sparred publicly with head coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

Even before the deal was completed, some Redskins players were already treating McNabb’s departure as a foregone conclusion. The writing has been on the wall for some time in Washington, and news of the discussions with the Vikings only served to validate that feeling.

“You see a guy that’s been a Pro Bowler six times,” linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “He was going to come in and really help us win more games, but it didn’t work out. Relationships broke down, and now he’s not here, but you can’t really focus on that. You’ve got to continue to move forward.”

In Minnesota, McNabb’s acquisition would show accomplished veterans such as Adrian Peterson, Antoine Winfield, Jared Allen and Kevin Williams that the team is still in a “win now” mode and has not started a rebuild around Ponder.

Frazier has maintained all along that the Vikings are not rebuilding, even after they went 6-10 last season and finished in last place in the NFC North for the first time since 1990.

Ponder was billed as the most NFL-ready quarterback in the 2011 class, but not being able to work with new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and most of his teammates at various minicamps and organized team activities throughout the summer would make it a bigger challenge for him to be ready to start in San Diego on Sept. 11.

Ponder said last week during a workout at the University of Minnesota that he still was aiming to be the starter from Day 1.

“That’s what I’m pushing for,” he said. “That’s what I’m hoping for. So we’ll see what happens.”

___(equals)

AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Ashburn, Va., contributed to this report.

___(equals)

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Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

by Jon Krawczynski, Associated Press

July 27, 2011

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – The Minnesota Vikings have acquired
quarterback Donovan McNabb from the Washington Redskins in exchange
for a sixth-round draft pick.

A person with knowledge of the transaction confirmed the deal to
The Associated Press on Wednesday night. The person requested
anonymity because McNabb has yet to officially sign his
restructured contract.

The deal gives the Vikings a veteran quarterback who will play
until first-round draft choice Christian Ponder is ready to take
over. The deal also includes a conditional sixth-round pick in
2013.

ESPN first reported that the deal was completed.

Ponder tweets that he welcomes McNabb to the team and looks
forward to learning from him. But he also says he still plans on
fighting for the starting job in Week 1.

“Excited to have McNabb join,” Ponder wrote on Twitter on
Wednesday morning, perhaps jumping the gun just a little bit.
“Will learn a lot from a Pro Bowler. But that doesn’t mean I’m not
still fighting to start week 1!”

The trade ends a tumultuous one-year run
in Washington for McNabb. The 12-year veteran was benched twice
last season and threw 14 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 13
games. He completed 58 percent of his passes for 3,377 yards, and
his agent Fletcher Smith sparred publicly with head coach Mike
Shanahan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

Some Redskins players
had already begun treating McNabb’s departure as a foregone conclusion.
The writing has been on the wall for some time in Washington, and
news of the discussions with the Vikings only served to validate
that feeling.

“You see a guy that’s been a Pro Bowler six times,” linebacker
Lorenzo Alexander said. “He was going to come in and really help
us win more games, but it didn’t work out. Relationships broke
down, and now he’s not here, but you can’t really focus on that.
You’ve got to continue to move forward.”

In Minnesota, McNabb’s acquisition demonstrates that the team is still in a “win now” mode and has not started a rebuild around Ponder.

Frazier has maintained all along that the Vikings are not
rebuilding, even after they went 6-10 last season and finished in
last place in the NFC North for the first time since 1990.

Ponder was billed as the most NFL-ready quarterback in the 2011
class, but not being able to work with new offensive coordinator
Bill Musgrave and most of his teammates at various minicamps and
organized team activities throughout the summer would make it a
bigger challenge for him to be ready to start in San Diego on Sept. 11.

Ponder said last week during a workout at the University of
Minnesota that he still was aiming to be the starter from Day 1.

“That’s what I’m pushing for,” he said. “That’s what I’m
hoping for. So we’ll see what happens.”

—

AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Washington contributed to this
report.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)