Brad Childress Backed Himself Into Corner With Adrian Peterson

Earlier this week, much was made of Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress making a trip to Mississippi. The coach had been vacationing, and stopped in Hattiesburg on his way back to Minnesota to chat with quarterback Brett Favre.

Since Favre had led the Vikings to within an eyelash of the Super Bowl in January, and "still hasn't decided" about playing another season, it made sense that Childress would pay the veteran a visit. While there, Childress apparently didn't bother to give Favre a deadline for his decision, indicating Favre was again free to skip training camp and show up in the middle of the preseason.

Meanwhile, star running back Adrian Peterson skipped the team's mandatory minicamp in June. The spoken reason was a day organized in Peterson's honor in his hometown of Palestine, Texas. Childress wasn't happy at the time, and understandably so, but he has not spoken publicly about it since minicamp, and there have been no reports that Peterson was or will be fined for skipping out.

During a Friday morning appearance on KFAN in Minneapolis, Childress was short and sweet when asked about Peterson.

"I had a good talk with him. ... You let bygones be bygones," Childress said ... "I told him how I felt, he told me how he felt. You can agree to disagree and you move forward."

When pressed on the issue of minicamp, Childress shut the questioning down, a rare occurrence in a genial and relatively open segment appearance.

"It's resolved."

It's clear Childress wasn't happy with his young running back, who continued to put up great numbers in 2009, but was clearly not as effective as he had been during his first two NFL seasons. Between fumbling problems and issues with his ability to be effective as a third-down player, there was plenty of reason for Childress to want Peterson at every offseason workout.

Of course, he can't go too far in his displeasure. After all, he just told his quarterback to show up whenever (or if) he feels like it. Favre has no deadline. Without arguing whether or not this is right (ultimately, it's a philosophical decision by the Vikings, and it's their decision, even if the league's other 31 teams think they're crazy for doing it), it backs Childress into a corner.

Sure, it's easy for us to say that Favre, going on age 41 and already a grandfather, has the right to do whatever he wants. That's easier said than done when Peterson wants to skip mandatory workouts, too. Childress talked tough at the time, but he knew he had little ability to punish Peterson when he was planning on letting Favre skip as much of training camp as he wants. Yes, Favre was coming off ankle surgery, and he claims he's not fully recovered yet (a plausible claim, given his age). But Childress still can't tell Peterson he's fined for missing minicamp while Favre is allowed to stay in Mississippi until the season starts, or later.

It's a corner Childress probably didn't figure to back himself into so quickly, but as long as there is any potential for Peterson to be upset about his contract, you can bet the head coach will tread carefully. With such a heavy reliance on Favre's ability to get them over the top, the Vikings understand their window of opportunity to win a title isn't exactly wide-open. It might be now or never for this group, so Childress needs to do what he's always done well: bring the players together for this common cause.

He's dealt well over the years with some really interesting personalities, and his ability to bring Favre into the fold as seamlessly as he did last year should show everyone how capable Childress is as a locker-room leader. Now, he has to find a way to get his team to the Super Bowl and make it all worth the effort.