Vikings coach Brad Childress, in an apparent attempt to send an unequivocal message to punter Chris Kluwe, worked out four punters after practice on Wednesday.
Kluwe is one of the better punters in the league, but he drew the ire of Childress for failing to kick the ball away from Gale Sayers Devin Hester Dante Hall Reggie Bush on Monday night, whose hype machine got a full tank of gas based on Monday night’s performance. In the past, Kluwe has struggled with keeping the ball away from Devin Hester. In the Vikings’ first 2007 game against the Bears, Kluwe put two into the end zone and three out of bounds. But Hester returned four, taking one of them 89 yards for a score. In the rematch, two Kluwe punts went out of bounds and four were returned by Hester. He broke free on none of the returns. Still, Kluwe doesn’t sound too worried about the possibility of losing his job. “It’s a heated game,” Kluwe said. “It’s football. It’s a game of emotions. I’m pretty confident in what I can do. I think I’ve shown I can hit the ball fairly well. If he feels he needs someone else to come in, then he’s the head coach, that’s his job.” On the bright side, getting cut would give Kluwe more time to work on his Guitar Hero skills.