The Vikings apparently have their answer.

Just hours after numbnut Brad Childress reveled that the Vikings threatened receiver Sidney Rice with injured reserve if he didn’t play this week, NFL Network’s Steve Wyche reports that Rice is “almost certain” to lace ‘em up against the Packers on Sunday.

Rice had been stalling about whether or not he would play because he becomes a free agent at the end of the year and doesn’t want to risk further injury. He’s missed the past 10 weeks after undergoing hip surgery in the offseason and if he winds up suffering another injury, it could wind up costing him millions on the open market next year.

But the Vikings need him to play now, which is where the aforementioned threat came in. They’ve been saving a spot on their 53-man roster and they’ve grown impatient wondering whether or not he’ll play. The ball has been in Rice’s court for the past two weeks and per reports, he’s looked healthy in practice.

What this means for the Vikings is simple: Brett Favre now has his deep threat back. But that doesn’t mean Rice will be effective right out of the gates. Don’t forget that he hasn’t played since Minnesota lost to New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game last year. He’s been able to practice, but obviously that’s not the same as playing in a real game. The defenders that he’ll be seeing on Sunday already have nine games under their belts and he still has to get up to game speed. It’s great for the Vikings that he’ll play, but it’s a little unrealistic to think that he’ll be the player he was last year when he hasn’t seen game action in nearly 10 months.

You knew that somebody, somewhere was going to cast a line for the Big Tuna as soon as he escaped Miami.

Judd Zulgad of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune speculates that the Vikings may be interested in Bill Parcells as soon as they fire Brad Childress if they decide to part ways with Brad Childress at the end of the year.

A reporter from the Palm Beach Post saw an advance copy of the NFL Network film about Bill Parcells that will debut tonight. In it Parcells makes it clear that at the age of 69 he isn’t ready to ride off into the sunset.

“Get me back out there,” Parcells says. “I can do this one more time. That’s how I feel.”

Well, isn’t that interesting. Parcells most recently worked as a consultant for the Miami Dolphins and last coached in 2006 with the Dallas Cowboys. He is best remembered, however, for winning two Super Bowls as coach of the New York Giants.

That is the same organization that Zygi Wilf has a huge fan of before he bought the Vikings in 2005. Already many have connected the dots that Wilf might be interested in bringing Parcells to Minnesota.

Zulgad goes on to note that Wilf has been more than satisfied with the job president of player personnel Rick Spielman and vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski have done. Thus, it’s not even certain that Wilf would want to bring in Parcells. But there’s no doubt it’s an interesting thought.

True-blue Giants fans love themselves some Parcells. The man can do no wrong and if Wilf still bleeds “Big Blue,” then he’s going to have at least a faint interest in hiring Parcells (especially after Childress gets done making a mess of everything this season).

Will everything come together? Who knows – again, this is just speculation on Zulgad’s part. There needs to be more to this than, “Wilf was a Giants fan so surely he’ll be interested in Parcells.” But it’s not difficult to connect the dots here.

Zygi Wilf still isn’t considering a coaching change in Minnesota, but he can’t be too pleased with the effort his team gave in Chicago on Sunday.

With their 27-13 loss to the Bears, the Vikings are now 3-6 on the year but Wilf is still reluctant to make a coaching change at the moment. That’s not to say that he won’t change his mind, but Childress’ job seems safe at the moment.

Wilf endured another turnoverfest in Chicago, as the Vikings committed four turnovers in the loss. The Bears let them hang around for a while, but Brett Favre wanted nothing to with the opportunities he was given and Minnesota eventually succumbed to defeat.

Devin Hester had himself a game, as he scored on a 19-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, returned a punt 42 yards later in the quarter and also returned a 68-yard kickoff in the third. He wanted to be more of a factor in the return game this season and he has been.

Somehow Jay Cutler wasn’t sacked the entire game, which is an embarrassment for the Vikings. The Bears’ offensive line has been horrendous all season, but they came up big against a Minnesota pass rush that has suddenly disappeared. Granted, Cutler moved around the pocket well and kept plays alive with his feet, but Chicago’s O-line deserves credit for coming to play.

With the win, the Bears are tied for first place in the division with the Packers, who were idle this week. The two teams will square off in Green Bay on the final week of the season, so things are shaping up for a great finish in the NFC North.

It might take a Super Bowl win this season for Brad Childress to save his job in Minnesota. And even then…

A couple of anonymous players expressed their dislike for Childress to former Vikings beat writer Sean Jensen (who now covers the Bears for the Chicago Sun-Times). One player even stated that he hates his head coach.

”We know that Childress doesn’t have our backs, so why should we have his?” one player said. ”We’re playing for us, and we’re winning despite him.”

”As much as I hate Childress,” another player said, ”I will keep playing.”

Obviously I’m not inside the Vikings’ locker room day in and day out, so I’m only observer of the situation. But it appears to me that Childress’ biggest problem is that he doesn’t know how to mange people.

When he gets frustrated or he doesn’t have control of a situation, he thinks that he’s motivating a player by calling them out. But he hasn’t earned their respect so when he does that, he only winds up pissing them off. He doesn’t have the faintest idea on how to mange personalities like Favre or Moss, so he winds up alienating them (or flat out getting rid of them, as was the case with Moss) and they turn their backs on him.

The other problem is that Childress doesn’t think things through. He acts on impulse and says whatever is on his mind, which winds up biting him in the ass. He also thinks he’s smarter than everyone and that he can do whatever he wants (i.e. waive Moss, go down to Mississippi to pull Favre off a tractor, etc.) because the Vikings are his team. But all he’s doing is rubbing people the wrong way.

The only reason this man still has a job is because owner Zygi Wilf hasn’t given up on the season yet and doesn’t want to make a big change. Once he does, Childress will be in the unemployment line faster than Randy Moss was run out of town.

Do you know that guy that can’t help but to say stupid things at the most inopportune times? The guy that’s trying to be funny but everything comes out wrong and he only winds up looking like an idiot?

I think Brad Childress is that guy.

Following the Vikings’ dramatic come-from-behind win over the Cardinals on Sunday (a game in which Brett Favre threw for a career-high in yardage and rallied Minnesota from two touchdowns down in the fourth quarter), Childress took the opportunity to poke fun at his aging quarterback.

Asked if he wanted any assurances from owner Zygi Wilf that he would be retained as the Vikings’ head coach for the remainder of the season, Childress said, “No, I’m not going to stand her like Brett Favre and tell you, compassionate, I need a hug. I’m all right.”

Childress’ comment was referring to Favre’s answer to a question on Wednesday in which the quarterback joking said, “Is [Childress] compassionate as in give us a hug or something? Boy, I sure could use one, too.”

Granted, Childress was only taking a stab at some lighthearted humor but a) it wasn’t funny and b) it didn’t make sense to anyone who didn’t hear Favre’s original comment. So Childress came off sounding like a jerk just moments after Favre essentially saved his job with that thrilling victory.

At the end of the day, what Childress said wasn’t a big deal. But this is a man who waived Randy Moss without anyone (most notably Wilf) knowing, was booed by his home crowd when he stepped on the field for pre-game warm ups, then needed Favre to orchestrate a come-from-behind win against a lousy Arizona team and yet he found it appropriate to make a joke at his quarterback’s expense following the game. Just shut up already and be thankful you still have a job.