EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Near the end of a rambling news conference to discuss his return to the Vikings, Brett Favre said something Wednesday that was easy to scoff at: This season will be his last in the NFL.
“Twenty years, and I’m done,” he said.
The announcement might have seemed, well, disingenuous coming from Favre, who had retired and unretired twice already, and appeared undecided this year until three teammates flew to Hattiesburg, Miss., on owner Zygi Wilf’s jet this week to fetch him. Even Favre, when asked if anyone should believe him, conceded: “Probably not. I do believe it now. I’ve got to fall apart sometime.”
But when? Exactly one year after his surprise arrival in Vikings camp, Favre slipped on his familiar red No. 4 practice jersey and jumped in with the first team during midday drills at the team’s Winter Park complex. Moving with a slight limp on a surgically repaired left ankle, Favre zipped short- and medium-range passes with the kind of eye-popping velocity that turned heads on his first day last year.
“He looks comfortable, much more comfortable than last year, when he really didn’t know all the names and the faces and how we operated,” coach Brad Childress said. “Now we have to play.”
Although Favre asked to play in Sunday night’s preseason game at San Francisco, Childress would not commit to it Wednesday.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Vikings bumped up Favre’s salary to $16.5 million from $13 million, with incentives that could push the deal to $20 million.
So, besides the money, why did Favre come back? He said he felt he owed his teammates one more run at a championship.
“Those guys were like, ‘If you can do us one favor,’ ” Favre said. “That’s a pretty big favor.”
Blount force — NFL style
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Rookie running back LeGarrette Blount, who was suspended by the University of Oregon for eight games last season for punching a Boise State player after a game Sept. 3, capped off a feisty practice for the Titans with a short punch to the helmet of defensive end Eric Bakhtiari a few moments after having his own helmet ripped off for the second time in as many plays.
“He apologized, and I said he didn’t have to apologize,” coach Jeff Fisher said. “It’s football. It’s training camp.”
Footnotes.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning will sit out Saturday’s preseason game against the Steelers because of 12 stitches in his forehead.
• Cowboys left guard Kyle Kosier is expected to miss at least a month because of a sprained knee.
• Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth has been sidelined for another practice, this time with lingering effects from dehydration.
• Jets center Nick Mangold returned to practice, saying he doesn’t have a concussion and his head is feeling normal again — “Or, at least, Mangold normal” — he said with a smile.
• Holdout left tackle Marcus McNeill met with Chargers general manager A.J. Smith, although it wasn’t clear if the session was productive.
• Bills starting safety Jairus Byrd is out indefinitely after having surgery to repair a groin injury.
Denver Post wire services
