Vikings Sign Koy Detmer

Brad Childress went back to his Philadelphia Eagles days to pluck an emergency quarterback for Sunday’s game if Kelly Holcomb or Tarvaris Jackson aren’t able to play because of injuries.

The Minnesota Vikings signed 10-year veteran quarterback Koy Detmer on Tuesday and released second-year cornerback Ronyell Whitaker to make room for Detmer on the 53-man roster.

Detmer will serve in a backup role Sunday at Green Bay if Kelly Holcomb and/or Tarvaris Jackson aren’t able to play because of injuries. Jackson started and suffered a concussion late in the second quarter of the Vikings’ 35-17 win over the Chargers. He was knocked unconscious and out the game. Holcomb suffered a whiplash-like injury to his neck the week before.

Detmer was originally a seventh-round draft choice by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1997 NFL Draft and spent 10 seasons with the Eagles, where he became familiar with Vikings head coach Brad Childress, who was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator during Detmer’s time there. Detmer has played in 103 career games with eight starts, throwing for 1,944 yards and 10 touchdowns on 184 of 354 passing (52 percent).

Detmer has also played in 12 playoff games and completed 8 of 15 passes for 91 yards in postseason play. His most productive season came in 1998, when he started five games for the Eagles and finished with 97 completions for 1,011 yards and five TDs.

Detmer was one of the most prolific passers in University of Colorado history, setting the school record for most touchdown passes with 40. He amassed career passing totals of 5,390 yards and 40 TDs on 350 of 594 passing and became the first quarterback to throw for over 3,000 yards in a season when he tallied 3,156 yards and 22 TDs in 1996.

The Vikings also gave a workout to former Carolina Panthers quarterback Chris Weinke.

NOTE

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was named the NFC OFfensive Player of the Week after setting the NFL record with 296 yards rushing vs. San Diego, breaking former Baltimore Ravens RB Jamal Lewis’ mark of 295 set in 2003. Peterson also earned the honor after his 224 yards against the Chicago Bears three weeks earlier.