Notebook from today: http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Note ... year080612

Simpson's never had an issue on the field. Lets see if he can keep his nose clean for another year.

I dropped in on training camp in Mankato yesterday. It was fun to watch Christian Ponder work with the offense. It seemed like dog days of summer, kind of a slow tempo from my amateur perspective.

Awww, widdle pewcy got a widdle boo boo? Want mommy to kiss it and make it better? Give me a break. Didn't he just have trouble with something else not that long ago? Besides the surgery (and then whining about recovery from the surgery)?

Right. Cramps at the END of practice. What a p*ssy. Professional athletes never get those.

This is the guy who missed the rookie symposium with "flu like" symptoms. Who mentions "no surgery is small" when asked when he'd be able to practice again. Who's had questions about some of his missed practices in college, and then in the NFL. And during OTAs had some other issue. Half dozen seperate "injuries" he ends up on the injury report for in any given season.

And speaking of those professional athletes, no one else had any issue with cramps? Percy just didn't hydrate enough? And "dropped out late" is different than "end". They didn't call off practice and he mentioned it. It was during practice.

And who has a hissy fit every time Harvin's name is mentioned? Who whines every time Harvin is listed with any kind of injury?

If you're suffering this much now, you'll be in agony every time Harvin makes a big play or scores a TD during the regular season. And, in case you've missed it, Harvin does make big plays and score TDs.

What's your point? That he's injury-prone? He's only missed three games in three seasons and plays through pain. He's as tough a receiver as they come. He may not be a huge practice guy (which might be an exaggeration in and of itself), but if he shows up on Sundays like he has that's fine with me. He knows how to prepare.



I guarantee many have.



That's kind of nit-picking, don't you think? What does it matter? Maybe the trainers told him that because they were almost done to just sit out. It may not have been his call. What, exactly, is your problem with the guy?

Yeah what a ####. The guy has missed 3 career games with injury and migraine headaches that most people couldn't bare to watch football on TV with let alone play at a pro-bowl level as Harvin has. Man if Ponder does half as good this year as I am predicting along with Harvin's pro-bowl expectation that will cause a lot of angst for some posters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx7EMZNTTA8

Lets get back on topic, I think the back and forth over cramps has run its course.

I don't think that will help, Percy has waaay too many issues going on.

What's my problem? I guess commenting negatively isn't allowed. I should have pointed out how tough he was sticking it out that long! Give me a break. "Missed three games" and how many snaps has he missed being a baby on the sideline because his ribs hurt? Or his finger? Or his ankle? Or his shoulder? How many practices does he sit out of because of his dozens of injuries.

My point is to be a full time contributing member of this team he's going to have to stay healthy. And he hasn't. He can't even make it through a week without having some issue. OTAs he wasn't healthy. One week in and he's already cutting his practice short due to cramps. Before that it was his shoulder surgery nagging. He was on the injury report a half dozen times last year. And if you don't think it negatively impacts this team, you're crazy. Obviously it's better than nothing. But if it keeps going like this do you really want to invest low #1/high #2 money in a guy you can't even trust to be 100% for a week?

Today's Notebook: http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Note ... week080812

That depends - are they paying him for the amount he practices, or are they paying him for the amount he produces on Sundays when it counts?

Would you really advocate the Vikes allow Harvin to walk based on what you've seen from him?

I think you're exaggerating a tad. Tom Brady is also on the Pats injury report on a regular basis, but never misses games. Percy plays through the "injuries", and plays well. And last time I checked, he was complaining that he wasn't on the field enough during games, not the other way around, so i don't know where the missing snaps on the sideline comment is coming from. I would honestly say that I don't think Percy's "injuries" affect this team in any major fashion outside of the 3 games he's missed.

Man it seems Ponder has been struggling this week ...

pick it up man .. the vikings need you to be better than 7-14 with two picks ...

show it in your play on the field, not just your sound bites and attitude

I agree that the numbers (especially the INT's) cause some concern but at the same time you can't always look at them at face value without watching. Tom and Judd both commented on this the other day. While Ponder has had bad throws, it hasn't always been his fault. Guys running wrong routes, dropped balls that were on target, offensive line missing assignments forcing him to throw it away and batted down balls (both QB and line can be blamed).

Well we will find out on Friday, We get the best defense in the NFL (the Niners) to start this pre-season

On that note, I'm also interested in seeing what the Vikings D looks like in this first game. This is especially true about the LB unit and the younger guys in the D secondary.

P.A. was on with Barriero yesterday and just said nothing but NEGATIVE things about Joe Webb. Said his passes are inaccurate and something has changed this off season for him. I wonder why Webb doesn't get with a QB coach during the off seasons. This guy could come in at a PonderInjury's notice and we need him to pass the ball efficiently

That's one guy's opinion. Reports out of camp haven't indicated anything along those lines.



He wasn't overly accurate to begin with. I'd be curious to learn what "changed" this offseason. The only thing I can think of is that he was told he'd be practicing strictly as a QB. I don't know what else it could be. Pure speculation. Maybe he looks worse compared to how much Ponder has improved.



Maybe he does? We aren't privy to his offseason routine. I don't know how many NFL QBs do this anyway.



Well, yeah. One thing I've heard about Webb is that he's kind of like Tebow in that he isn't a great practice player and his true improvisation talents don't shine until he's in the game and can make plays with his legs as well as his arm. I suppose I'd take a guy like Webb, who might be a mediocre practice player that can perform in games, over a guy like Tarvaris, who always looks great in practice and mediocre (or outright poor) in games. YMMV.

Cue more drama in 3...2...1 due to this totality speculative (wishful thinking) article.

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/p ... um=twitter

I'm waiting for the NFL Live or Sports Center dedicated to the "Should the Jets reunite Tebow and Harvin!!!!11111111" question.