In praise of the sexy girls who make crappy horror movies palatable.  Also…Michael Phelps fatigue.  Tom Brady’s poor little tootsie…

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Receiver Joe Horn has been released by the Atlanta Falcons, who made him a parting gift of the $2.5 million in guaranteed money left on his contract. Horn lobbied all off-season to get out of Atlanta, a team that is in definite rebuilding mode. The question is whether he has anything left to offer a team that has playoff aspirations. It’s doubtful that the Vikings would even look at him right now - they seem fairly set at receiver despite everyone’s worries about that position - but you never know.

Bernard Berrian missed the second preseason game with a bad toe, and has since revealed that the toe issue is a nagging one that has affected him in past seasons.  It’s possible, said Berrian, that he will sit out of Saturday’s match-up with Pittsburgh as well - the thinking being that if he rests the toe now he stands a better chance of not having to deal with it when the games start counting.  Bernard explained:

It’s a little bit more than just tedious because you already know kind of what you have to do because I’ve been through it before  So it’s just getting to that point to where I don’t have to do it. I’m not doing it everyday throughout the whole entire season. I want to rest it up so it’s ready to go for game one [and] I don’t have to worry about it for 16 weeks.

Bernard’s turf toe, or whatever it is, may be a nuisance for him and the Vikings, but he’s still way better off than this chick:

The Vikings lost another defensive line option yesterday when they placed backup tackle Kenderick Allen on injured reserve with a bad wrist.  This doesn’t impact the depth chart much given that Allen was unlikely to beat out Fred Evans for the 3rd defensive tackle job.  Still, the rate at which defensive players have been going down for the Vikes is somewhat alarming.

The Chicago Bears have put to rest any quarterback controversy that might’ve existed for them by naming Kyle Orton the starter for 2008.  The Bears say the decision was made based on Orton’s performance going back to last year, but come on - it was mostly about the way Grossman played in the team’s preseason game this past weekend against Seattle.  He got the start and was God-awful.  Lovie Smith just couldn’t take anymore.  So he looked down his bench, realized Sid Luckman wasn’t there, and picked Orton.  I’m guessing the team will be keeping their eye on the Chris Simms situation too.  They might even make a run at Brooks Bollinger if and when the Vikings decide to give him his walking papers.  It amazes me that the Bears haven’t tried harder to solve this issue the past few years.  Brian Griese?  If I were a Bears fan I would be utterly dismayed by all this.

The News-Press of Fort Myers, Florida is reporting that the Vikings were among 20 teams that sent scouts to look at out-going Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Chris Simms play in preseason action against the New England Patriots.  3 of the teams were Canadian, but Simms made it clear that he’s not interested in playing in Canada.  The quarterback, who stands 4th on the Bucs’ depth-chart, was 2-4 with 24 yards in a 27-10 win over the Pats.  Simms has clearly resigned himself to soon being a former Buccaneer, as this comment attests:

I think if I’m here two weeks from now, they’re going to release me.  Other than that, if I get traded before then, then I get traded.  But if it comes down to the last cut, and I’m still here, they’re going to release me. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.

How interested are the Vikings in Simms?  They’ve acted like they’re happy with Tarvaris Jackson at #1 and Gus Frerotte at #2, but who knows what kind of internal discussions are going on, especially in the wake of T-Jack’s knee injury.  There could be nervousness in some corners of the brain-trust.  Worry that Jackson is fragile, that Frerotte might have to play a lot this year and isn’t the kind of QB you want playing a lot.  Either way, the Vikes are at least looking at Simms.  I’d still say it’s a long-shot that they bring him in, but who knows?  Jackson’s knee could be worse than we’ve been led to believe.  And the team’s confidence in Frerotte could be lower than they’ve been letting on.

Update: One of those infamous PFT league sources (janitor?  bathroom attendant?) is downplaying the presence of all those scouts at the Buccaneers game.  “Every preseason game has scores of scouts at it,” said the source.  “Because that was the only game played last night it probably had a few more than usual.  Simms had nothing to do with it.  I would say there are at least 15 scouts at each preseason game.”  I suppose it’s possible that teams could just be doing their due diligence, scoping out players who might hit the waiver wire later this month.  Maybe the Vikes were looking at left tackles?  Who knows?

Tarvaris Jackson’s knee bruise, suffered late in the first quarter of last night’s preseason win over the Ravens, is in fact something a little worse than a mere knee bruise. It is actually a sprained MCL - at least according to PFT’s league sources. Said sources indicate that Jackson will be kept out of the third preseason game, against Pittsburgh, but will return for the finale. This sort of buggers the Vikings‘ plans given that Brad Childress had said the starters would play into the third quarter against the Steelers. Now Gus Frerotte will get those reps with the first team. Presumably, this means Jackson will play more in the last preseason game than you would expect a starting QB to play - unless the coaches think he’s already gotten enough work, and would prefer to protect him instead.

The big story coming out of the Vikings’ 23-15 preseason win over the Ravens (a game I saw none of) was the injury to Tarvaris Jackson, who got his knee banged up while running. The team is calling the injury a bruise and is acting like it’s no big deal. It is, however, a very big deal, given Jackson’s history of injuries (he missed three games last year) and his tendency to not be cautious enough when he breaks the pocket and runs (such a play resulted in him suffering a concussion last year). The coaches will no doubt redouble their efforts to impress upon Jackson the importance of sliding rather than taking a hit.

Jackson put up good numbers again before hurting himself: 7/11, 82 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. T-Jack is now 15/22 for 200 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs in just about a full half of football this preseason. Yeah, okay - it’s against vanilla defenses.  Still there is encouragement to be derived from these performances. The same can’t necessarily be said for the run defense which allowed Baltimore’s Ray Rice to rack up 77 yards on only 8 carries. Pat Williams was back in there for the Purple but even his presence didn’t seem to make much difference. Brad Childress is concerned about the slow starts the defense has gotten off to the last two games, saying:

Maybe the defense can start a little bit faster. We’ll adjust that.

On the good side: Jared Allen racked up two sacks, and should’ve had a third according to Judd Zulgad (he just missed bringing down Troy Smith). The Vikes racked up five sacks as a team after going sackless in the Seattle game. If the pass defense makes a marked improvement, it will balance off a decline in the run defense. On the John David Booty front: The former USC QB was 1/3 for 9 yards and a pick and was sacked twice. There were people who wanted this guy to compete with Jackson for the starting job, but he’s getting ripped up by third-team defenses. Booty is a loooong way from being an NFL quarterback. It’s probably too early to judge, but it’s beginning to look like the Vikes would’ve been better off taking Colt Brennan.

Quick Notes

• Adrian Peterson ran the ball 8 times for 30 yards after going without a carry in preseason Game 1.
• Martin Nance moved a step closer to securing a roster spot by catching 3 balls for 74 yards and 1 TD.
• The Heath Farwell injury opened up an opportunity for E.J. Henderson’s brother Erin to make the squad.  Erin made the case for himself by recording 9 tackles, 8 of the solo variety, against Baltimore.
• Bernard Berrian missed the game with a sore toe.
• Chris Kluwe had an attack of Romo’s Disease, failing to handle a snap on a field goal.
• Pat Williams suffered a bruised knee but did not leave the game.  Big Pat now has a bum situation in half his limbs.
• There are no more family weddings planned in the coming weeks so I should be able to watch the remaining two dreary preseason contests and report on them propery.

The Vikings have broken training camp.  They play Baltimore tomorrow night (I have family obligations and will therefore not be watching - gosh I’m so broken up about having to miss all the scintillating preseason action).  The starters will reportedly play into the second quarter.  Everyone’s worried about the pass defense which looked god-awful against Seattle.  It should look a lot better against Baltimore as they can’t pass the ball.  Troy Smith will start at QB for Baltimore.  Adrian Peterson may get a carry for the Vikings or he may not.  Have you been watching this Michael Phelps guy?  Dude is unreal.

Someone on Sirius NFL Radio is reporting that Bryant McKinnie will get suspended for four games by the league for his little off-season scrap with a bouncer that ended in the left tackle bashing said bouncer over the head with a metal pole. This is not confirmed by the way - but four games sounds about right. The presumption is that Artis Hicks would take over the vital job of protecting Tarvaris Jackson’s blindside in Mount’s absence. This could also have large implications for the ground game given how much the Vikings like running Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor to the left. Then again, maybe the team won’t miss Bryant at all.  Maybe this experience will show them how not-vital McKinnie is, making them more willing to consider parting ways with him.  Either way, you have to believe Mount is on a short leash with Brad Childress and Zygi Wilf, great champions of character that they are.