Winfield Remains Unhappy

The Vikings completed their minicamp workouts with many of the same concerns about Antoine Winfield that preceded minicamp -- namely that he was required to be there and won't be back until he is required to be back again -- at reporting time for training camp July 25.

The Antoine Winfield saga took another turn Sunday as the Vikings concluded their three-day minicamp. While attending all three days of minicamp as he said he would do, Winfield followed that up by saying he won’t be back until training camp opens.

“I’m pretty much going to do this thing on my own,” Winfield told reporters of attending OTAs for veterans. “I don’t feel like I really need to be around. I pretty much know the defense. I know what I need to work on when I’m away from here.”

Winfield, who has stayed in the Twin Cities during the offseason, has avoided all of the organized training activities since the end of last season. It has been rumored that he is dissatisfied with the direction the team is heading and not in a dispute over his contract, which included a big roster bonus that came off the books in the first year of his deal rather than being spread over the duration of the contract.

The Vikings will resume their OTA workouts Tuesday and will have 10 more OTA sessions between now and June 19 – the end of the off-season workout schedule. The team isn’t required to be back until July 25 when training camp begins.

Don’t expect to see Winfield at any of the OTAs, but, from the sounds of things, he will be back when training camp opens. Whether he’ll be happy about is another story.

MONDAY NOTES
* Whether intended as a shot at Tarvaris Jackson or not, some may interpret Winfield’s assessment – saying, “they’re not going to bring in Peyton Manning or anything like that” – as a shot at the offense.
* After sitting out the second practice session Friday and both Saturday practices, Maurice Mann returned to practice Sunday.
* Brad Childress praised the efforts of punter Alex Reyes, who is expected to challenge Chris Kluwe for the punting job this season.