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Hi Folks,
For you guys who own Randy Moss or Michael Bennett (or those who feel like taunting the Moss / Bennett owners in your league...) here's the latest from the Star Tribune in Minnesota: (and yes, when I say "guys", I mean you girls too so please spare me the avalanche of email I always get whenever I say "guys". Laughing) Joe /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ Vikings' Bennett Will Miss Game, Moss' Play Will Be Limited Entire Story: http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/760564.html Clipped from the Kevin Seifert article published online 10-16-01: An offense based on speed might have to get by on guile this week. The Vikings' two fastest players are questionable for Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers, and one of them almost certainly will not play. Receiver Randy Moss and tailback Michael Bennett are both suffering from sprained right ankles, and while Moss likely will play at limited capacity, Bennett is expected sit out Sunday. The revelation of Moss' injury coincided with his least productive start in four NFL seasons, while Bennett's ailment will allow him to quietly step back from his own disappointing start and give way to Doug Chapman. "I think Randy will be able to play," Vikings coach Dennis Green said Monday. "I don't think there is any doubt about that. Michael will probably not be able to play." Moss seemed less confident of that certainty, however. The ankle, which he originally sprained playing basketball prior to minicamp in 1998, began throbbing during Sunday's 31-26 victory over the Detroit Lions. Green and members of the Vikings' medical staff characterized the pain as residual affects from the 1998 injury, a condition he will continue to have the rest of his career. But Moss woke up Monday morning with more stiffness and soreness than ever, according to trainer Chuck Barta. As he departed Winter Park, Moss said the ankle "is fine, man. It's fine." But asked if there was no doubt he would play Sunday, Moss only shrugged his shoulders. It would behoove him to try; Moss has caught passes for at least 100 yards in five of his six games against the Packers, and has more receiving yards against them (753) than any other team. Bennett, who cut off interviews with local media last week, declined to comment Monday. The No. 1 draft choice has struggled to replace Robert Smith as the Vikings' featured running back, rushing for 214 yards and a 3.5 yards-per-carry average while failing to score a touchdown in five games. The Vikings also have been disappointed in his ability to pick up blitzes in pass protection. While Chapman does not represent a clear improvement in that area, some in the organization believe Bennett might benefit from a week or two on the sideline. He was limping noticeably Monday at Winter Park while wearing an immobilizing boot. Assuming the Vikings rule Bennett out for Sunday, Green said Chapman would start and Travis Prentice would begin assuming more of a short-yardage role. Harold Morrow would serve as a third tailback. Chapman, who has rushed 11 times for 38 yards in limited playing time this season, said he would be ready. "It's not music to my ears when somebody gets injured, but this is the NFL," Chapman said. "I'm more than capable. I'm just going to go out and do what I have to do." Of greater concern, is Moss' condition. He has caught 21 passes for 321 yards and one touchdown in five games this season; his second-lowest output for the first five games of a season came in 1999, when he caught 21 passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns. Moss had an uncharacteristically sloppy game Sunday against the Lions, dropping two passes and allowing a third to go through his arms and into the hands of Lions cornerback Todd Lyght for an interception. He mistimed his jump on several other occasions, a mistake Green attributed to the injury, and Moss removed himself from the game liberally to catch his breath. "Randy Moss doesn't normally drop passes," Green said. "One thing you can always tell, if a guy is hurt, his concentration level is not there. It's very difficult to play at your best if you are not 100 percent health-wise. I think that was clearly the case yesterday with Randy, so we're going to do everything we can to get him as close to possible to 100 percent." Moss has never missed a game since joining the Vikings, playing in all 53 regular season and six postseason games. He declined an invitation to the 2001 Pro Bowl after bruising several ribs during the NFC Championship Game, but Green lauded Moss' tolerance for pain. Moss will undergo round-the-clock rehabilitation this week, and Green said he should know by Thursday how much Moss will be able to play. Without Moss at his best and without Bennett at all, the Vikings will be missing two of their top speedsters against the Packers. Their injuries will place an even greater emphasis on the performance of quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who rushed for a career-high 83 yards Sunday while also playing a near error-free game. "We prefer to have our total speed out there, but we're a fast team overall," Green said. "We're quick and explosive. It's not just because we have Randy, because we have some other guys with some speed. So we will be able to operate. I think the best thing is that Daunte will get better every game. He loves big games. I think he'll be ready to play a tremendous game and we'll depend on him to a certain extent to help operate our offense this week." [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ [ OUR VIEW ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] ] Clearly, bad news here. You know we never got on the Bennett bandwagon but he's been even worse than we expected. Chapman could make some noise but the Travis Prentice issue is ugly. Plus you have the best goalline "back" in the game with QB Daunte Culpepper. For Moss, my guess based on what we know now is that you have to start him and cross your fingers. He's too good to sit unless you have excellent options at WR. He can turn a game (and your weekend) around in a couple of plays. I'd have to be blind to say I wasn't seriously worried about him but I don't think I could sit him unless you're really deep there. More as we hear it. Thanks to our Footballguy Tony for pointing me to this one from our message boards www.footballguystalk.com Joe /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ Bryant Analytics, Inc. All Rights Reserved 1999-2001 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: cheatsheets-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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