Mini-camp press conference and Pics

**KWILL93** · 05-13-2006, 10:45 PM

Childress: We had a couple injuries. Fred Smoot tweaked his knee a little bit, twisted it. We just took him out to be precautionary, put an ice bag on it, and he'll probably be back out here this afternoon. We'll see if it swells at all, but he should be okay. Marvin Ward tweaked his hamstring, felt it pop, so we got him in there and got him some ice. All in all, a good start to it. You have a recalibration period that everybody kind of goes through, along with 25 new faces, new bodies. The veterans are doing a nice job of taking the lead, setting the tempo, and I thought for those guys to be good leaders, those rookies need to be good followers, and I thought they were pretty well on task. I wouldn't really single anyone out. I thought our team did a nice job of coming back and losing some weight. We had guys lose 14 pounds, 6 pounds, 10 pounds. There are a couple guys that stayed flat, but basically they're starting to bring it back down, which they need to do before they get to training camp. Other than that, not bad for the first practice.

Q: Who lost the most weight?
A: I think the HIPPA laws prevent me from telling you how many pounds somebody lost. That's nobody's business but ours.

Q: What is the philosophy to instill on players?
A: Well one of the first things we talk about is control the things that take no talent, which is knowing your assignment and being able to fly around and have yourself in great condition. That takes no talent to do those three things, so we're emphasizing that. Obviously you can't do anything unless you're in great physical condition.

Q: What are your first impressions of Chad Greenway and Tarvaris Jackson?
A: I don't know that I saw Chad until late in the day there in that special teams avoid drill. My eyes are in too many different places to zero in, but I'll get time to look at plenty of tape where I can run it back and forth and get an impression. Tarvaris, I saw made a couple of nice throws. I thought it had a little something on it, and he did a good job with all of our verbiage. I thought stepping up in the huddle and taking command of the huddle, he did a nice job there too.

Q: Do you want to take it a little bit slower with Tarvaris?
A: Yeah, when you say take it a little bit slower, it's particularly important that they slow down in what they're saying because sometimes it sounds like John Moschitta. It's like, "Whoa, slow down. You're passing out a little bit of knowledge now. You're giving everybody what's going on." They have to slow that down as well, and yeah, you're right, you get a little hyped up with your first NFL snaps. It's good for him to slow down.

Q: Did you see more drops than you would like?
A: Yeah, you hate to see balls on the ground in a pro practice, particularly where there's an opportunity to make a play. Some of them were tough tries; some of them were a little bit easier, but you have to come up with those when somebody puts it on your body.

Q: What are your thoughts on all the changes around Winter Park? A: Well I think number one it just shows you the commitment the Wilf family has to making things first class, making things right. Every one of those changes is with the players in mind. Whether it's an extra TV set here or the cafeteria being open for breakfast and lunch, all those things send a great message to those players that the Wilfs want to do it the right way.

New Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress gives some pointers to running back Mewelde Moore, left, as the Vikings opened a three-day football minicamp Saturday, May 13, 2006, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

New Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress, right, talks with defensive end DeQuincy Scott at the Vikings minicamp Saturday, May 13, 2006, in Eden Prairie, Minn. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Vikings rookie center/guard Ryan Cook, from New Mexico, does a high kick during football workouts as the Vikings opened a three-day mini-camp Saturday, May 13, 2006, in Eden Prairie, Minn. Cook was drafted in the second round. (AP Photo/Jim Mone

Minnesota Vikings first round draft choice, linebacker Chad Greenway, goes through football workouts as the Vikings opened a three-day minicamp, Saturday, May 13, 2006, in Eden Prairie, Minn. Greenway, who is from South Dakota, played college football at Iowa. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Minnesota Vikings first round draft choice, linebacker Chad Greenway, takes a breather during football workouts as the Vikings opened a three-day minicamp, Saturday, May 13, 2006, in Eden Prairie, Minn. Greenway, who is from South Dakota, played college football at Iowa. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

**KWILL93** · 05-13-2006, 10:51 PM

We had a couple injuries. Fred Smoot tweaked his knee a little bit, twisted it. We just took him out to be precautionary, put an ice bag on it, and he'll probably be back out here this afternoon.

That is not a good sign if Smoot already has an injury even if it is minor