Posted: December 7, 2010, 7:43 p.m. CT
By Bo Mitchell
FOXSportsNorth.com
There isn't a quarterback controversy for the Minnesota Vikings, nor should there be.
Health permitting, Brett Favre will be and should be under center for the Vikings against the Giants on Sunday -- and for the rest of the season.
Interim head coach Leslie Frazier left little room for interpretation on the topic after the Vikings' victory against the Bills in which Favre exited after his first pass attempt because of a sprained right SC joint in his shoulder. "If he's healthy, he'll be our starting quarterback against the New York Giants," Frazier said.
If Frazier had come out and said Tarvaris Jackson had suddenly earned the right to start based on how he played against the Bills, it would have sent an awful message to his locker room: "If you get hurt and the next man up comes in and does a mediocre job, you will be benched."
Yeah, it was another mediocre, up-and-down performance from Jackson. Per usual, he teased us with his mobility against the Bills. He also mixed in more quality throws than usual. However, he also threw three interceptions -- one of which was returned for a touchdown -- to a lousy Bills team that had registered only four interceptions entering the game. Throwing for 187 yards, two touchdown passes -- the first of which was the result of a phenomenal effort by Sidney Rice -- and three picks against the Bills is not exactly something to tweet home about.
Sure, the Vikings won in a blowout with the most points they had scored all season. But a large portion of the credit should go to Rice, Adrian Peterson's three touchdowns and the season-high five turnovers generated by the defense and special teams. Any time you turn the ball more than four times in a game -- as the Vikings did Sunday -- and still win the turnover battle, you know the opposition is not exactly high caliber.
Jackson admitted afterward he didn't think he had earned another start based on his performance.
Those endorsing T-Jack to start next week will point out Favre hasn't exactly been immune to turnovers this season. He threw his NFL-leading 18th interception on the play on which he injured his shoulder. However, Favre has a little better resume than Jackson does. He has proved he can hold a starting job for 20 seasons, let alone one. Every single coach in the league would start him ahead of Jackson, given the choice.
Had Jackson been the Vikings' starter all season, with a banged-up receiving corps and behind a spotty offensive line, there's no telling how many times he would have been picked off by now -- 18 would likely be the low end.
Moreover, had Favre not gotten blindsided on his first pass Sunday, had he played the entire game, who's to say the Vikings wouldn't have won by 40? That was a bad, 2-10 Bills football team, one playing perhaps its worst game of the season.
Advocating that Favre start has nothing to do with the fact he is on the verge of starting his 300th straight game; his record string currently stands at 297. You simply just don't bench a starter -- a future Hall of Famer who can still play the game in this case -- for a guy who has never shown he can hold down the job. Jackson had his chance and was eventually replaced by Gus Frerotte.
Frazier also doesn't need to get Jackson extra playing time to further assess his ability as the Vikings look toward the future. Honestly, the Vikings know what they have in Jackson; he's a backup NFL quarterback who seesaws back and forth between flashes of something-less-than brilliance and terrible blunders. Inconsistency, thy name is T-Jack.
The MRI on Favre's shoulder confirmed he has a sprained SC joint, and judging from the amount of trouble he had doing something as routine as putting on a T-shirt Monday morning, the Vikings starting quarterback is still in a lot of pain.
But, then, Favre is used to being in a great deal of pain. His tolerance for pain is unprecedented, as his coach noted Monday. "There's nobody tougher than Brett Favre to ever play the quarterback position," Frazier said. "I was a little surprised he wasn't able to make it back and I'd be surprised if he's not able to play this weekend. He is extremely, extremely tough as we all know."
Something tells me Favre will be pulling on that T-shirt with more and more ease the closer we get to Sunday's kickoff against the Giants.
And if he does, he also deserves to pull on his purple Vikings home jersey and start against the Giants.
Follow Bo Mitchell on Twitter @fsnbomitchell
Email Bo Mitchell at fsnbomitchell@gmail.com
