Vikings Get Chet Injury Scare

The Vikings got a big scare Tuesday when Chester Taylor went down with what appeared to be a shoulder injury that had him taken to the locker room. However, head coach Brad Childress said later Tuesday that the injury was a "ding" -- a bruised forearm that should only keep Taylor out of practice for two or three days.

Every training camp, teams suffer significant injuries that can affect and entire season. Last year, the Vikings lost Tank Williams in practice and Chad Greenway early in the first preseason game. Already this year, the Jags have lost starting center Brad Meester with a broken foot and Redskins RB Clinton Portis has been sidelined with knee tendonitis.

The Vikings looked to be added that list as Chester Taylor went down hard early in practice Tuesday and, while first indications looked to be a shoulder injury, it was serious enough that he was taken to the locker room on a cart. Later, however, head coach Brad Childress said the injury was too his forearm and X-rays showed the injury to be just a bruise.

Taylor is expected to miss just a couple of days of practice while the injury heals, but he had Vikings fans holding their breath, as the dream of the “Thunder and Lightning” backfield just about went up in smoke before it had a chance to get going.

In his absence, both Adrian Peterson and Mewelde Moore were given more snaps and both looked strong. Peterson broke off a couple of long runs with lightning fast moves in the hole and Moore had a long run and reception during the morning practice, giving the Vikings reason to be upbeat even if something were to happen to one of the starters that would put him on one the shelf for any extended period of time.

WEDNESDAY NOTES
* It would appear that $15 million of Adrian Peterson’s five-year contract is tied into incentives, which would seemingly not have it in his best interests for the Vikings to have a two-man backfield tandem. Of the contract money that is base salary, only about $11.3 of his reported $40 million contract is tied into base salary. However, with $17 million in guaranteed money, most of that is from signing and roster bonuses due this year and in 2008 because his 2007 base salary is just $285,000.
* Rookie Marcus McCauley is looking much more like the player scouts saw in 2005 than in 2006. Coming into last season at Fresno State, McCauley was viewed as a first-round talent. But team dissention led to an eventual demotion and loss of confidence, which allowed McCauley to slip to the Vikings in the third round. He has been as impressive as any defensive player in camp, making big plays and showing the athleticism that had scouts excited in the first place. He currently is the frontrunner to win the nickel back job behind Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin.
* Darren Sharper returned to practice Tuesday, but remains limited in contact drills with a sore shoulder.
* Bryant McKinnie is expected to return from the non-football injury list, where he has been sidelined with a hamstring pull.
* Daunte Culpepper’s career seems to be back on track…sort of. Serving as his own agent, Pepp signed a one-year contract. In a statement he released – in which he misspelled coach Lane Kiffin’s name – Culpepper said he wants to compete for a starting job before turning the franchise over to unsigned rookie JaMarcus Russell. He added, “I look forward to working with my new teammates and being a part of Raider Nation!!” The two exclamation points weren’t added by us for emphasis. Clearly, Daunte is happy to be a part of the Raiders family.
* In other Culpepper news, it appears the Jags wanted him pretty badly to help out their own quarterback malaise but that he turned down a proposed three-year, $15 million contract to play for a team with legitimate playoff aspirations. He turned it down? Memo to Daunte: you really need to hire an agent. * It hasn’t been a good week for former Packer Tony Fisher. He was signed by the Jets July 27, but, just four days after signing, he was released yesterday.