To his credit Vikings 4th year quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is still fighting to stay in the team’s quarterback picture
Lost in all of the hype surrounding the ballyhooed return of legendary quarterback Brett Favre from Mountain High and being handed the starter’s job is what is going to happen to the Vikings former starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson — career starting record of 10-10 including 0-1 in the playoffs.
The much maligned passer has had a pretty good preseason despite battling through a knee sprain and now the team bringing in veteran Favre. Jackson has continued to maintain a solid professional attitude on and off the field. In the Vikings’ recent 17-13 win over the Chiefs, which was also the much anticipated return of Favre (1-4, 4 yards), it was the 4th year veteran who shined the brightest.
Despite being initially booed by his “home” crowd when entering the game versus the Chiefs, Jackson had a perfect passer rating finishing with passing stats of 12 for 15 for 202 yards and two touchdowns including a 13-yard touchdown strike to TE Visanthe Shiancoe.
The performance probably further enhanced the young passer’s trade value, but you would have liked to have seen Vikings head coach Brad Childress give T-Jack a “legitimate” shot at fighting Favre for the starting position. Mostly likely, barring injury, Jackson will be stuck behind Favre — NFL record “iron man” most consecutive starts quarterback streak (269 and you can make it 291 if you include the playoffs — for the entire season as an insurance policy and after the season then Childress will re-evaluate his former second round pick from 2006.
Jackson said after the Chiefs’ game, “Whenever you play well, you always feel good”. The Vikings former playoff game starter added, “Regardless of the situation or the circumstances, it felt good. It was a long week for me. It just shows that if you just stay focused, you’ll be fine.”
Taking it to the House 