Childress takes blame for not aiding McKinnie

Bryant McKinnie described his struggles Sunday night as a "bad day," but Vikings coach Brad Childress said the coaching staff should have given the left tackle more help.

McKinnie gave up two sacks and had all kinds of problems containing Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers in a 26-7 loss.

Peppers, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, finished with one sack and three quarterbacks hurries and was around quarterback Brett Favre all game.

In hindsight, Childress said the team should have given McKinnie more help.

"Yes, that's me," Childress said. "I'll take that. We didn't do a good enough job with getting him help, whether it was chip help or tight end help or fading a guard that direction. We actually had it set up that way a couple of times but it didn't occur and it should have occurred. But then a lot of it was just a 1-on-1 type of operation. [Peppers] is a good player."

Childress replaced McKinnie with veteran Artis Hicks in the third quarter.

Asked about McKinnie's reaction, Childress said: "I didn't really take time to take a poll on that. Some of the things you do, you're doing by your feel and your gut. It won't change anything going forward."

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(startribune.com)