Gus Frerotte Replaces Tarvaris Jackson, Vikings Make Change at Quarterback

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It didn’t take long for Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress to change his mind. After the Vikes lost a heartbreaking 18-15 decision to the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday, coach Childress insisted on Monday that quarterback Tarvaris Jackson would continue to be his starter — at least for one more week. That was until he watched film of the Indy game and spoke with Tarvaris over the past couple days. Today coach Childress announced that, barring injury, Gus Frerotte would be the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings for the remainder of the 2008 season:

“I’m just not seeing right now the aggressiveness from Tarvaris that I saw throughout the offseason, training camp, the two preseason games that he played in. And part of it may be experience. I know Gus will give us that. And I know his approach will also lend itself to that ….. I know there’s many other plays, there’s a lot of other people that have to step up. But then when you go back through and look at the tape, and most importantly be able to sit across from the young man and want to be able to verify what you’re feeling — it’s kind of like looking in your kids’ eyes and saying one (thing) and feeling another.”

Thus, the switch. And it’s the right decision. What you’ll see from the Vikings now is an expanded playbook and a more confident, experienced quarterback. I don’t know if the receivers will continue to drop passes, but two out of three ain’t bad when you’re trying to recover from an 0-2 start.

Lucky for Gus, he inherits a team that can run the football because he’s 37-years-old and won’t be doing much — if any — running himself. Gus Frerotte is not a long-term solution for the Minnesota Vikings. He’s the result of the Vikes not finding a better veteran solution to replace Tarvaris before the season began. He is also not Brett Favre. I’m not sure what to expect from Gus, but he’s already an upgrade for the Vikings before he even hits the field. Whether or not he can get them to the playoffs is another matter.

Source: Vikings.com