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But even after the Vikings brought in four punters to work out on Wednesday, special teams coordinator Paul Ferraro expressed confidence in Kluwe to get the job done.
“Chris Kluwe is our punter. I’ve got great confidence in Chris,” Ferraro said Thursday. “He needs to do better in the situation that he was put in Monday night and I need to do a better job of helping him do that and we are going to do that together and get it done.”
After Reggie Bush returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter on Monday night, Kluwe was instructed to punt the ball out of bounds on his next two kicks. He didn’t get it done in either case, and Bush took another one back 64 yards for a score and nearly broke a third one before stumbling on a 29-yard return.
The inability to put the ball out of bounds incensed coach Brad Childress, who said after the game that if Kluwe couldn’t do it, the coach would find a punter who could. On Wednesday, four were brought in to audition, with the only notable name being former Seattle punter Ryan Plackemeier.
Childress and Ferraro insisted that the workouts were routine, but it was clear that a message was being sent to Kluwe in the process.
Kluwe said he wasn’t bothered by seeing four other punters after practice, and Ferraro said the entire unit has to do a better job this week against Detroit.
“Chris Kluwe’s got a job to do, but we’ve got 10 other guys that have a job to do and they need to pick it up also,” Ferraro said.
Both the punt- and kick-cover units have struggled in the first five weeks of the season with allowing big returns that put the defense in difficult situations.
It nearly cost the Vikings the game on Monday night, but they held on for the 30-27 victory.
Childress raised eyebrows by calling out Kluwe publicly. He said Thursday the two have spoken about the situation and “he understands what I want.”
Ferraro also pointed out that kicker Ryan Longwell was 3-for-3 on field goals and the special teams scored a touchdown of their own on a blocked field goal that Antoine Winfield returned for six points, so the news wasn’t all bad for the unit.
INJURY UPDATE: Receiver Bernard Berrian did not practice on Thursday to rest a chronically sore toe and a bad knee, but he does expect to play Sunday against the Lions.
Linebacker Erin Henderson was held out for the second day in a row while recovering from a concussion suffered on a ferocious hit by Jo-Lonn Dunbar on Bush’s first TD return, further thinning an already depleted linebacker corps.
“He’s still exhibiting some symptoms,” Childress said. “But he was able to do more today and exercise more today.”
Linebacker Vinny Ciurciu (concussion), defensive end Ray Edwards (shoulder), tight end Jim Kleinsasser (foot), receiver Sidney Rice (knee), cornerback Benny Sapp (hamstring), center John Sullivan (knee) and safety Madieu Williams (neck) all were limited in practice.
BERRIAN’S IMPACT: Count Adrian Peterson among the many Vikings happy to see Berrian’s six catches for 110 yards and a touchdown.
It was tough sledding for Peterson against the Saints, who threw everything at the running game to keep him under wraps. Peterson finished with 32 yards on 21 carries, but hopes hitting the big throws down the field will loosen things up for the running game in coming weeks.
“Guys want to stack the box to stop the run game, so we need players outside to make plays,” Peterson said. “Bernard did a great job of doing that and we came up with a big win.”
Berrian averaged 18.3 yards per catch, caught a 33-yard TD pass and also caused a 42-yard pass interference penalty when he got open deep and Saints safety Kevin Kaesviharn had to tackle him to prevent a completion.
“The big key is hitting them, whether it’s completing them down the field or even the last pass interference at the end of the game,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said. “Those both end up being explosive plays. Then they have to say, ’They are taking these and they are hitting them, so we’re going to have to pick our poison here a little bit.“
SHORT YARDAGE: Vikings CB Antoine Winfield was voted NFC Defensive Player of the Week by fans on NFL.com. ... Ferraro said Maurice Hicks has cemented his position as the primary kick returner. Hicks returned four for 93 yards against the Saints. ... Ferraro also clarified that the field goal was blocked both by Kevin Williams and Fred Evans.
Jon Krawczynski can be reached at jkrawczynski(at)ap.org.
