Favre reports picking up again

After a relatively quiet week last week regarding any real Brett Favre news comes a report on Sunday that offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell observed an in-depth throwing session from Favre.

The latest chapter in the ongoing Brett Favre saga has the signing of the future Hall of Famer appearing to be all but a done deal, as ESPN reports that offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell accompanied head trainer Eric Sugarman to Hattiesburg, Miss. last week to test out Favre’s throwing shoulder.

ESPN reported later Sunday that Bevell, who was at the center of the Packers’ claims that the Vikings tampered with Favre last season prior to the start of training camp, reportedly was on hand for the second workout with the Vikings. Bevell, who was Favre’s quarterback coach in Green Bay, was cleared by the league of any wrongdoing last year in the tampering case, citing that he and Favre had maintained contact as friends. This visit, however, seems a clear indication that the two are looking to reunite as members of the Vikings organization.

Bevell is the first member of the coaching staff known to have met with Favre. There were reports that head coach Brad Childress had met with Favre, but those accounts proved to be inaccurate, as both Childress and Favre denied that a Mississippi meeting took place.

According to the ESPN report, Bevell watched Favre do a strenuous workout to test the surgically repaired throwing arm. Favre was said to have thrown about 100 passes in a workout at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg.

One potentially bad piece of news was that report said Favre warned the Vikings that he might be forced to delay a decision on whether to return the NFL in 2009 until “just before training camp opens.” The Vikings will report to training camp in Mankato July 29, with the first practice coming July 31.

Favre has made it clear that he wants to play for the Vikings, but he has been unable to sign on the dotted line yet because he wants to be 100 percent sure that his shoulder, which had a surgical procedure to detach a partially torn biceps tendon, will hold up for an entire season. Favre had the surgery done seven weeks ago.

Those who were expecting an announcement of the Favre signing this week will apparently have to wait a little longer while he makes up his mind, but all indications are that, despite some slight pain following the throwing session, Favre will be heading back to the NFC North with the Vikings.

MONDAY NOTES

The Favre signing was expected to coincide on or about the time single-game tickets go on sale to the public, which will happen a week from today.

Daunte Culpepper is expected to start the season as the Lions quarterback, but word out of Detroit is that Matthew Stafford has picked up the playbook of new coach Jim Schwartz so fast and has thrown better than Culpepper in minicamps and OTAs that the rookie may end up starting from Day One.

A story in the Palm Beach Post Sunday claims that the Vikings intend to tailor several plays a game to exploit the explosiveness of Percy Harvin and that he could be the centerpiece of Wildcat formations. The Vikings were one of the few teams that didn’t run any plays from the Wildcat last year, but they spent one minicamp practice working on them this spring.