Quarterback Tarvaris Jackson took all the reps with the Vikings’ first-team offense today as Gus Frerotte rested his lower back. Frerotte wasn’t on the field at the start of practice and was walking very gingerly as he exited. Frerotte, who was wearing a device that provided electronic stimulus treatment for his back, did some work jogging in the pool today but for the most part just tried to let his back relax. 

Speaking for the first time since being injured while making a tackle last in the first half of the Vikings’ victory last Sunday at Detroit, Frerotte said, “I twisted [the Lions’ Corey Smith] down and something just popped and I knew it right away.”

Frerotte described the injury as “muscle stuff” and said he does not have a fracture in his back. That was an immediate concern right after the game. “I’m hopeful,” Frerotte said of playing Sunday at Arizona. “Right now, I’m not giving up of anything. … We’ll just go day-by-day and see how I feel when I wake up tomorrow.”

Frerotte could not recall a time during his 15-year career where he missed an entire week of practice and then started. “Obviously, I think you’ve got to get a little bit in but every team is different,” he said of getting work in practice. “I know when I was with Coach [Nick] Saban [in Miami] if you weren’t on the field at all that week you weren’t allowed to play. And then I was with other coaches where as long as you were able to go on Sunday you can play. I think we’ll just have to see how it goes. It’s definitely day-to-day right now. I’m still doing everything else I normally do. Study, see what the Cardinals are going to give us and then the only absence is on the field today.”

Frerotte said he was “really excited” to see Tarvaris Jackson come off the bench and lead the Vikings to a come-from-behind victory over the Lions. “Like I told him earlier in the week, I said, ‘You just never know when you’re going to be able to have those plays come to you again,” Frerotte said. “You have to stick with it, it’s a long season and I was really proud and happy for him that he went out and played so well. He was the reason we won and I was really excited to see him get back out there.”

Jackson, asked if his mentality has to be different given that it looks right now as if it’s a long shot that Frerotte will play, said: “Definitely. When you know you’re playing it’s different. We were talking about that today, me and Gus were talking about that with [offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell]. Sometimes it’s even better not knowing if you’re going to play. You just get in there and just play. Like during the week some guys tend to worry, ‘What if I get this look, what if I get this.’ But when you’re just throwing into the fire during the middle of a game it’s a lot different. You just go out there and play. But I’m trying to do that. Just keep doing whatever I did last week and the week before and just try to get ready for the game if Gus is not ready to go.” 

In addition to Frerotte, defensive ends Jared Allen (knee) and Brian Robison (knee), right tackle Artis Hicks (elbow) and wide receiver Darius Reynaud (foot) did not practice. Allen’s absence was not a surprise given that he has a knee and shoulder injury and has been getting rest in practice in recent weeks. It might not be a good sign that Hicks had to sit out. Hicks played last Sunday at Detroit after sitting out the previous week against Chicago. He has been battling an elbow injury for much of the season and there is a possibility he aggravated it at Detroit. There is also a chance the Vikings are simply trying to get him rest in what football folks like to call “the push to Sunday.”

Reynaud had an MRI on his toe Monday after being injured on a kickoff return against Detroit. He was able to return to the game but was limping badly today on the practice field. Reynaud admitted Sunday he was afraid he might have turf toe, not a good thing for a guy who relies on his speed.

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