You can look at this as a compliment for Christian Ponder or an indictment of Donovan McNabb, but Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said Thursday the team won't scale down its game plan despite the switch at quarterback.
"We feel like we can go forward with a full complement of volume," Musgrave said, according to the Vikings' official website. "We want to expand each and every week, and continue to be tough to defend. But we don't feel like we need to put the brakes on in any regard."
It's hard to say how much of the passing game would be left if the Vikings did decide to dumb things down for their rookie. Minnesota's passing offense ranks 31st in the NFL, and McNabb ranks 29th in touchdown passes, 26th in passing yards and 19th in completion percentage.
The Vikings' plan means Ponder will be a busy man at practice.
"With Christian, we're going to try to give him as many as we can to make up for lost time," Musgrave said. "And then as we move through the season, we may scale that back a little bit just to keep his legs and arms fresh just to prepare for each Sunday."
It's hard to say if Musgrave's game-plan claims are true. NFL coaches have been known to fudge the truth to gain a competitive edge. And with the undefeated Packerscoming up Sunday, this might be the only competitive edge the Vikings get for awhile.
