Vikings turn to Frerotte
With the passing offense sputtering in 2 losses to open the season, Minnesota coach Brad Childress decided the Vikings can no longer afford to let 25-year-old quarterback Tarvaris Jackson learn on the job.
On Wednesday, Childress turned to 15-year veteran Gus Frerotte, who is 37, to run the offense for the rest of the season.
"I'm just not seeing right now the aggressiveness from Tarvaris that I saw throughout the off-season, training camp, the two preseason games that he played in," Childress said. "And part of it may be experience. I know Gus will give us that. And I know his approach will also lend itself to that."
Jackson completed just 51 percent of his passes this season. He threw a game-ending interception at Green Bay that sealed the Packers victory and was partly responsible for the offense settling for 5 field goals and scoring no touchdowns in an 18-15 loss to the Colts.
"I know there's many other plays, there's a lot of other people that have to step up," Childress said. "But then when you go back through and look at the tape, and most importantly to be able to sit across from the young man and want to be able to verify what you're feeling - it's kind of like looking in your kids' eyes and saying one (thing) and feeling another."
It's an abrupt and drastic move for a team that entered the season with sky-high expectations after spending $60 million in guaranteed money to position itself as an NFC contender.
Only two weeks in, the Vikings already are 2 games behind NFC North-leading Green Bay with games against Carolina, at Tennessee and at New Orleans coming up.
Jackson admitted to "inconsistent play to say the least," but also said he was surprised and upset by the move.
"I could easily hold my head low, keep my head down, you know, be a cancer to the team," Jackson said. "I'm still frustrated and mad about the situation, but I'm going to use that as motivation to try to get better and just better myself for the future."
Around the league: The Jets announced a partnership Wednesday with online ticketing Web site StubHub to auction off 2,000 seat licenses that will put big-spending fans 5 yards behind the team's bench in the new Meadowlands stadium, scheduled to open in 2010. ... All-pro safety Bob Sanders could miss 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain sustained during the Colts' win Sunday over Minnesota. ... The Jaguars re-signed veteran offensive guard Chris Naeole.