So Zulggins of the Star Tribune are reporting that Brad Childress is pondering starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson against the Patriots on Sunday.
I still think Brett Favre will be taking snaps in New England and that this is part of Childress’ pre-game injury report dance but it is possible TJax will play.
The problem with that is that we all know what we’re getting with Jackson, the Patriots included, and it’s not that intimidating.
Jackson says he’s more confident than he’s ever been after sitting a year and nearly a half behind Brett Favre. That’s good. You’d hope he’d learn something doing so. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel that way.
The only thing we have to judge Jackson by is his pre-season performance this year, which was awful because it was so much more of the same:
- Inaccuracy on slants and, inexplicably, deep balls.
- Impatience in the pocket.
- Staring down receivers.
- General poor decision making.
The Vikings offense becomes eminently predictable with Jackson running it, relying as it will on a heavy dose of Adrian Peterson. Expect a lot of three-and-outs.
And expect the first play from scrimmage to be a bootleg with Visanth(e) Shiancoe on a short drag and Percy Harvin on an intermediate drag with Randy Moss pulling the safeties deep.
And expect the Patriots to be ready for it.
The tragedy of Tarvaris Jackson’s career, and the supremely frustrating thing about him, is that he has not made any apparent progress during his five years as a pro.