McKinnie's 'bad day' ends with benching

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a game in which many Vikings had a bad day at the office, Bryant McKinnie might have had one of the worst.

The left tackle's struggles in the Vikings' 26-7 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night at Bank of America Stadium earned him a place on the bench in the third quarter. He was replaced by versatile veteran Artis Hicks.

"Just had a bad day," McKinnie said. "It's pretty disappointing, because there is nothing you can do about it. You're just having a really off day."

Said coach Brad Childress: "You could say that about a bad day at the office for all of us."

McKinnie injured his ankle two weeks ago in the Vikings' loss at Arizona, but did not blame any health issues for his struggles.

McKinnie gave up a sack of quarterback Brett Favre in the first quarter, when rookie defensive end Everette Brown beat him.

McKinnie also gave up a sack to defensive end Julius Peppers. Some believed McKinnie was playing at a Pro Bowl level this season, but that was not the case Sunday.

McKinnie did not express any anger with the decision.

"I felt like if somebody else could go in there and help the team, that would be better instead of me just going out there and having a bad day," he said.

Asked if he could put his finger on what went wrong, he said: "I have an idea of what I can do to fix it. I'm going to make sure I get it fixed this week."

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(startribune.com)