No Brett Favre, but optimism high as Minnesota Vikings report to training camp

MANKATO, Minn. -- Six months and five days after the Vikings' Super Bowl dreams died in New Orleans, they returned to work Thursday eager to finish the job but still uncertain whether their legendary quarterback will join the fight.

The road to Super Bowl XLV starts today with a 4 p.m. practice at Minnesota State Mankato, although training camp officially opened Thursday afternoon.

Players arrived in shorts and T-shirts, hauling luggage, pillows and portable fans into Sears Hall, where they will spend the next two weeks trying to reconnect with the schemes and good vibes that carried them to the NFC championship game.

Conspicuously missing, but never out of the conversation, was Brett Favre, the 40-year-old quarterback widely expected to return for a 20th NFL season after camp breaks Aug. 12 -- even if he has yet to commit.

As Favre dithers on his Mississippi ranch, the rookies and veterans who left behind more inviting lifestyles to bunk with a roommate in a cramped college dormitory hardly batted an eye at Favre's freedom.

"There's been a lot of talk about guys being treated differently," center John Sullivan said. "Well, guys aren't the same. Brett's played for 20 years. He has earned some leeway. We know that if he comes back, he'll be 100 percent committed to the team. I speak for most of the guys when I say nobody's upset that Brett's in the situation he's in."

Favre is coming off the best statistical season of his career and would be the 22nd returning starter from a team that won 13 games and the NFC North Division for a second straight year.

"We ain't stressing about Brett," defensive tackle Pat Williams said. "He didn't say no yet, so I ain't worried about it."

Regardless, the mission in 2010 is crystal clear.

"The thing we're shooting for is the Super Bowl. Anything short of that would be a failure for us," said defensive tackle Kevin Williams, wearing a gray T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Ain't No Second Place."

The bitter taste of the Jan. 24 loss to the Saints, in which Minnesota committed five turnovers, including Favre's interception while the Vikings were driving for the winning score in the dying seconds of regulation, cast a pall over the off-season.

"It's time to finish it," said Pat Williams. "We didn't finish it last year. We're here to finish it and not come in second place like we did last year."

The Williamses drove separately to Mankato but arrived at the same time, carrying matching fans.

"That's how we roll," said Pat Williams.

It was an appropriate picture considering their link as run stuffers on the Vikings' front four and their united stand against the NFL, which is trying to suspend the Williamses for failing 2008 drug tests in the StarCaps case.

Linebacker E.J. Henderson is eager to get back on the field after a seven-month layoff while rehabilitating from a gruesome leg injury.

"I'm not nervous. I'm anxious to get back out there," said Henderson, who broke his right femur Dec. 13 at Arizona. "Ready to cut it loose. It's not like I have a lot of lingering effects. It's healed. It feels good.

Henderson is unsure whether he will open camp on the physically unable to perform list after meeting with coach Brad Childress this week about his status.

"We had a good conversation about it," Henderson said. "We're leaning toward starting out slow and gradually increasing the work that I'll do. It's up to him and the trainers."

Also reporting on time was rookie cornerback Chris Cook, the Vikings' top draft pick. Cook and three other picks -- defensive end Everson Griffen (fourth round), guard Chris DeGeare (fifth) and tight end Mickey Shuler (seventh) -- signed contracts Thursday.

That leaves running back Toby Gerhart (second round) as the only unsigned rookie.

"It was definitely important for me to get the business out of the way," said Cook, who will compete for snaps in a wide-open secondary.