EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- As far as Minnesota Vikings coach Leslie Frazier is concerned, there will be no veteran group dispatched to try and talk cornerback Antoine Winfield out of retirement. Minnesota knows how what can happen when trying to talk a retired player out of retirement. It worked when the traveling party of Ryan Longwell, Jared Allen and Steve Hutchinson went to Mississippi in 2010 to bring back former quarterback Brett Favre, but the move didn't pay off for the Vikings, who stumbled in Favre's unceremonious farewell tour. So, with former defensive leader Winfield apparently set on retirement instead of playing a 15th NFL season, Frazier won't be sending a group of Winfield's friends and former teammates to talk him into a return trip to Minnesota. "No," Frazier said Wednesday, laughing when asked if he sent a group to talk with Winfield. "When a guy's retired, you've got to let him go through what he's going through. You don't want to be talking people out of retirement if that's what they want to do." Nothing is stopping some of Winfield's former teammates from trying, though. Safety Jamarca Sanford said he'd make sure to reach out to Winfield.
"I will most definitely call him and try to talk him out of retirement," Sanford said. "I'm pretty sure coach Frazier ain't going to call him, nobody at the top going to call him. But I'm for sure going to reach out to him and see what he think." Of course, Sanford doesn't have the power for Winfield to return to the Vikings, who cut Winfield at the start of free agency rather than pay him the $7.5 million salary he was due in the final season of his contract. Winfield chose to sign with the Seattle Seahawks instead of return to Minnesota on a smaller contract. Seattle released the 36-year-old Winfield last weekend in its final cuts. A three-time Pro Bowler, Winfield chose to retire over going through free agency again. Winfield was well-respected in his nine years with the Vikings. Sanford was one of the young players who developed under Winfield's tutelage. He hadn't reached out to Winfield yet, but planned on doing so soon and said he isn't convinced Winfield is done. "I'm not convinced that he's done because it's Antoine, I know how much he loves the game," Sanford said. "As of right now, he says he's done, he's retired, so everybody reaches that point in their career where they just get tired and try to ride off into the sunset." Sanford said he was still in shock about hearing Winfield was released by Seattle and decided to retire while many still consider him a quality player. Last season he had 101 tackles for Minnesota and tied for the team lead with three interceptions. "He the best slot guy I've seen, hands down," Sanford said. "You got a linebacker, a safety and a corner all in one. Every time we got on tape, we're showing the nickel defense and the coverage, and if he's on the field, 2-6 got a highlight. It speaks for itself, the film that he put out there."
Sanford said Winfield would "fit right back in with no problems here." And Frazier even kept open the offer on Monday saying he would, "welcome the opportunity to work with Antoine again if that's what he wanted to do." But Frazier isn't going to try and talk Winfield into a return. Frazier said he did text Winfield to offer encouragement on his decision. "Just encouraging him to be whatever he wants to be," Frazier said. "If retirement is what it is, good luck in retirement. If you ever want to talk, let's talk about taking that next step after your career ends because it's a big difference from playing 15 years almost to going back to being a regular citizen. It's a transition and a lot of players struggle with that transition. If they ever needed to talk about that, I'd be glad to have that conversation." Williams' status still in doubt: Kevin Williams missed practice Wednesday because he's still dealing with the knee injury he suffered in the third preseason game. Williams hasn't returned to practice since he was hurt on a chop block by San Francisco offensive lineman Joe Looney on a play the Vikings considered dirty. Frazier said Williams is improving and making progress, but the team would likely need to see Williams practice by Friday to make him active for Sunday's game at Detroit. "If he's not able to do much on Friday, then that would be a concern whether to have him to play on Sunday," Frazier said. "But we'll see. We'll see how he progresses. He's doing well so far, so we'll see how things go as the week goes on." Rookie defensive tackle Shariff Floyd did return to practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday and Frazier said he would need to see how Floyd progresses this week before determining how much he could contribute on Sunday. "Need to see him get some practice under his belt," Frazier said. "Today will be the most extensive amount of work that he's had in quite a while. So, we'll see how he does and we'll just gauge it throughout the week." Phil Loadholt, Harrison Smith among limited: In the first injury report of the season, several players were listed as limited, including starters right tackle Phil Loadholt (knee), defensive tackle Letroy Guion (finger) and safety Harrison Smith (back). Receiver Cordarrelle Patterson (back) and safety Mistral Raymond (shoulder) were also limited. Third-string quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson did not practice Wednesday because of an illness. Cornerback Chris Cook (groin), linebacker Erin Henderson (heel) and linebacker Larry Dean (shoulder) were listed, but as full participants in practice. Frazier preparing without Ballard: Christian Ballard is still away from the team and on the left-squad list and Frazier said there are no new developments with the third-year defensive tackle. Minnesota has a roster exemption for Ballard. Frazier said he hasn't talked to Ballard in about a week and said the team must move forward with assumption Ballard is done with the team. "I think you have to approach it that way," Frazier said. "We've got to get these guys ready to play that are here and practicing every day. Got to move forward." Ballard is still tied contractually to the Vikings, so he can't sign with another team. Practice squad change: Minnesota made one change to its eight-man practice squad on Wednesday, releasing running back Joe Banyard, who led the team in rushing in the preseason and brought back undrafted rookie Bradley Randle. Randle, out of UNLV, was with the team in training camp, but was a part of the Vikings' first roster cuts last week to reach the initial 75-man limit for the final preseason game.
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