by By Sean Jensen sjensen@pioneerpress.com , St. Paul Pioneer Press

Fortunate to avoid any major injuries since the exhibition season, the Vikings were concerned about the status of two key players, cornerback Antoine Winfield and rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin, coming out of Sunday's 33-31 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

Harvin left the Metrodome on Sunday with his ailing shoulder in a sling, and Winfield left Winter Park on Monday with his right foot in a walking boot.

"People heal so differently that it's just hard to know," Vikings coach Brad Childress said, when asked about Winfield's chances of playing Sunday. "I would have thought (Phil) Loadholt's injury would have held him out longer than it held him out. So guys have different recuperative skills. So I am not going to rule (Winfield) in, or rule him out at this point."

Loadholt returned to the starting lineup against the Ravens after missing the St. Louis game because of an ankle injury. But veteran Artis Hicks did a solid job of filling in for Loadholt.

The Vikings don't have the same luxury at left cornerback.

Winfield is a Pro Bowl corner, and the team's backup options are former Denver backup Karl Paymah and rookie Asher Allen. The team also has Benny Sapp, but he has excelled as a nickel cornerback and is better suited in that specific role.

Sapp, though, certainly would welcome a chance to start.

"I just come to work and whatever the coaches decide, I've got to play and man up," said Sapp, who has 10 career starts. "I'm ready for the challenge. It's something I've always wanted to do."

Winfield said "everything looked OK" after an X-ray and a magnetic resonance imaging exam Monday morning. But his status for Sunday's game is still unclear. During his weekly segment on KFAN Monday morning, Winfield said his foot was "a little bit swollen and a little bit sore."

"But I'm going to do whatever I can to get back on the field and play against the Steelers," he said.

Winfield said he injured the "middle, top portion" of his right foot.

If he can't play, whoever replaces him will have a daunting challenge.

In the first half Sunday, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco completed 14 of 19 passes for 141 yards. But he was 10 of 11 for 112 yards after Winfield left the field. In the second half, Flacco was 14 of 24 for 244 yards, with two touchdowns, one of them on Winfield's replacement, Paymah.

"I told (Winfield) just before we went out for the (final) two minutes, 'I knew we'd miss you, but I didn't think we'd miss you that much,' " Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said Sunday.

Paymah said his focus is to be more physical, noting that he was pushed on at least one of the passes caught on him.

"It's just a part of the game. It's an offensive game, and you're not going to get those calls in this league," Paymah said, later adding, "You got to expect it, and when you get pushed off, you got to lean into him and try to finish the play."

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson finished the game despite tweaking his ankle with less than seven minutes left. On Monday, Peterson, who regained his standing as the league's leader in rushing yards, didn't have any problem moving around, and Childress said he has "just got overall body soreness."

Sapp said he was "a little slow" Monday but insisted that he is fine. Allen was confident he could "execute" if given a chance, and Paymah said a player in position must "practice like you're going to start."

Childress said he wasn't sure which direction he would go if Winfield can't play or if Sapp could step in there.

"We have not even gone there yet," Childress said. "We just got done with grades and talking about personnel in terms of who played what, how many plays did they have, and how well did they do. So we haven't even started to address some of that."

If Childress has his druthers, he won't have to make that decision.

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