Where are the Sidney Rice threads (1 Viewer)

[FFdork]

Hopefully some good news from practice today?

Clayton from ESPN said he "practiced hard" yesterday and should see 10-15 snaps on Sunday. He also said they're looking to "slowly work him in" (I think those were his exact words, very close anyway) over the next few weeks, so it's unclear if, barring setbacks, he would see something approaching a normal work load in week 11 or not.

 

[Dr. Awesome]

10-15 snaps? No way am I starting this guy. At least he's playing.

 

[FFdork]

10-15 snaps? No way am I starting this guy. At least he's playing.

1. Clayton isn't the most reliable of the ESPN 'insiders' so take it with a grain of salt, but it makes sense that he would be eased in to some degree.2. At least it sounds like he's playing some so we'll get to see how he looks and whether Favre looks his way. 3. Vikings have to win this game or everything could be different next week including the head coach, QB and/or play-calling

 

[FFdork]

This article from the Pioneer Press has a little different take:

Something the Vikings must sort out before Rice's return is how many snaps he gets.

Coach Brad Childress said he'd expect Rice could play as many as 25 to 35 snaps early in his return. Rice said he doesn't want to be limited by the injury once he returns, and the long-term implications of the injury are "huge."

"I don't want to hurt the team in any way. We're in a critical position right now," Rice said. "We need all these wins. I'm not just going to throw myself out there knowing I can only get 10 plays and we have another receiver down who could help the team a lot more."

Just the bit I put in bold has a lot to digest and interpret. Obviously he'd be a huge risk to play this week because even if he plays 35 snaps he could be rusty and/or the timing with Favre could be off. It does sound like both he and Chilly envision more than the 10-15 snaps that Clayton reported if he's a go on Sunday.

 

[identikit]

per Judd Zulgad, Minny beat reporter:

Vikings did NOT activate Sidney Rice today so he won't play Sunday vs. Bears.

 

[identikit]

Also per Adam Schefter:

Vikings did not activate WR Sidney Rice (hip) from PUP list Saturday, which means he will not make his season debut Sunday, says Ed Werder.

 

[Jeremy]

Rice is walking a fine line. He's been medically cleared now for 2 weeks, the Vikings say it's his decision, and he's choosing not to play. Obviously his priority is his next contract, but if he sits out too much longer he risks hurting his value. Sure he wants to stay healthy, but he's also got to play a few games to show potential suitors that he wasn't a one year wonder.

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

From Rotoworld:

Sidney Rice no lock to play in 2010 season?

Rice

Judd Zulgad and Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune both believe that Sidney Rice (hip) will ultimately decide not to play at all this season.

Rice made the decision not to play in Week 10. The beat writers believe that Rice and agent Drew Rosenhaus won't risk another injury in what is becoming a lost season. Rosenhaus may opt instead to "shop" Rice's 2009 stats in free agency. Per Scoggins, "it would not go over well" if the Vikings responded by using the franchise tag (assuming the option is still available) on Rice in 2011. Nov. 16 - 8:04 pm et

Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune

 

[Dr. Awesome]

I've expected him to miss this year for some time. Of course that didn't stop me from trading away Lynch for the guy.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Rice is walking a fine line. He's been medically cleared now for 2 weeks, the Vikings say it's his decision, and he's choosing not to play. Obviously his priority is his next contract, but if he sits out too much longer he risks hurting his value. Sure he wants to stay healthy, but he's also got to play a few games to show potential suitors that he wasn't a one year wonder.

Maybe he was just waiting to see if the Vikes won enough to stay in the hunt.Big fan of Rice since his SC days, but I think I'm cutting bait here.

 

[Federal]

New blog from Rice:

My plan is to go. But it will come down to a Saturday decision.

 

[Dr. Awesome]

I’m just about to head out to the practice field and see how I’m feeling and everything. A lot of people are wondering what happened on Sunday, why I didn’t play. Ultimately, it came down to how I felt at the end of the week. I went pretty hard in practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and I was feeling significant discomfort Friday and Saturday when I woke up.So I decided not to go out there and risk getting hurt or, in my eyes, hurting the team by playing before I was ready and taking away from the team by not getting healthy.Someone out here wrote a column today saying that I wasn’t going to come back and talked about how it related to my contract situation. But you can ask any of the news people around here, not once have I spoken about a contract or wanted money. My objective is to get out on the field and play when I’m healthy and it has nothing to do with my contract.If you know anything about the CBA, if the contract doesn’t get done I still have to be here two more years anyway, so what’s going on now is definitely not about my contract.That’s a bunch of bull. I wouldn’t dare do the fans or my teammates like that.Times like these, some news people just need stories to create and I guess me not getting back on the field yet is something they want to use.I just want you fans to know that the surgery I had was very serious. It’s not like I’m coming back from a pulled hamstring and can run back out there. There’s way more to it than that. Believe me when I tell you I’m pushing to get back on the field.I’m anxious to get out there today and I look forward to Saturday to see how I feel after a hard week of practice. When I wake up hopefully everything will be alright and I’ll be ready to go on Sunday. My plan is to go. But it will come down to a Saturday decision.

 

[FootballGuy22]

I’m just about to head out to the practice field and see how I’m feeling and everything. A lot of people are wondering what happened on Sunday, why I didn’t play. Ultimately, it came down to how I felt at the end of the week. I went pretty hard in practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and I was feeling significant discomfort Friday and Saturday when I woke up.So I decided not to go out there and risk getting hurt or, in my eyes, hurting the team by playing before I was ready and taking away from the team by not getting healthy.Someone out here wrote a column today saying that I wasn’t going to come back and talked about how it related to my contract situation. But you can ask any of the news people around here, not once have I spoken about a contract or wanted money. My objective is to get out on the field and play when I’m healthy and it has nothing to do with my contract.If you know anything about the CBA, if the contract doesn’t get done I still have to be here two more years anyway, so what’s going on now is definitely not about my contract.That’s a bunch of bull. I wouldn’t dare do the fans or my teammates like that.Times like these, some news people just need stories to create and I guess me not getting back on the field yet is something they want to use.I just want you fans to know that the surgery I had was very serious. It’s not like I’m coming back from a pulled hamstring and can run back out there. There’s way more to it than that. Believe me when I tell you I’m pushing to get back on the field.I’m anxious to get out there today and I look forward to Saturday to see how I feel after a hard week of practice. When I wake up hopefully everything will be alright and I’ll be ready to go on Sunday. My plan is to go. But it will come down to a Saturday decision.

Even if it was a contact issue the Vikings could re-sign him now if that's what it took to get him on the field. I think they would do this if it gave them a shot at getting into the playoffs. Some "insurance" for Rice in terms of guaranteed money would go a long way IMO.

 

[RedskinsFan]

"If you know anything about the CBA, if the contract doesn’t get done I still have to be here two more years anyway, so what’s going on now is definitely not about my contract."

Ok sure we all know this is bullspit. From my window him not playing this year isn't an option. Remember when Drew Brees got hurt then became a free agent? No one in the league wanted him. What team wants a player all messed up? He's right this aint no simple hamstring and he's only produced in one season. And it was his decision to wait on his surgury that caused this and had he gotten it done in the offseason then this wouldn't have happened either. Out my window I see a baseball game:

Strike one - He's got one year of producing at a high level. One year wonder is still possible. That's a huge risk for a team to take.

Strike two - If he doesn't come back this year he missed all season because of his questionable decision. In a league with guys having two DUI's and multiple accusations of rape hiring a guy who makes questionable decisions isn't high on a wanted list.

Strike three - Who wants to sign a high dollar free agent who isn't able to show you what he can do after a major injury?

I see a strike out to Mr Rice's thought process that he's sitting out this season. I do believe him when he says he will be back this season.

However the tin foil loving conspiracist within me however sees one possibility of him not coming back this year and that this choice won't be up to him. If I understand this correctly Rice has one week to get promoted to the active roster and come off the PUP list. Say the team wants to keep Rice but wants to scare other teams away from him. The team could in it's best interest decide that since Rice screwed them, they are going to screw Rice and IR him for the rest of the year hoping that say a WR desperate team like my Redskins wouldn't think he was a good FA target and pass on him. In essance knowing the Vikings are out of the playoffs this year, what motivates them to bring Rice up this year? Doing that if he looks good will likely get more interest on Rice then if he was on IR. Once the Packers beat the Vikings and they start looking at next year with the possibility of not having Rice wouldn't they want to get an early edge on seeing what life is without Rice?

If I were Rice I'd make damn sure that come Saturday I was brought up because once the Vikings aren't playing for nothing I don't see why they wouldn't IR him anyway?

 

[dallas428]

Minnesota Vikings WR Sidney Rice (hip) said he will play in the team's Week 11 game but may not be able to play the entire game, according to ESPN's Ed Werder.

 

[VaTerp]

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpag...227&id=4188