Sidney Rice Returns To Vikings Practice

Added on Nov 04, 2010 by Scott in

NFL

Timing, as they say, is everything. With Randy Moss in the Vikings rear-view mirror, wide receiver Sidney Rice was removed from the PUP list and returned to practice on Wednesday. Rice has been recovering from hip surgery since August. Minnesota will have three weeks to decide whether or not he’s healthy enough to be added to the active roster. With Percy Harvin struggling with various ailments, Rice’s return would provide a needed boost to a thinning receiving corps.

Head coach Brad Childress sounded cautiously optimistic about Rice’s ability to make an impact in the coming weeks:

“We’ll just see how he progresses here. He’s done everything that he can do from a rehabilitation standpoint,” Childress said. “There’s going to be a conditioning aspect that’s got to be met. Obviously, football’s a physical game: the pounding, running on the turf, the full-speed routes. We’ll just see how he comes through that.”

Needless to say, it’s been a rough couple months for the purple and gold, so any piece of good news should be embraced. However, hip injuries aren’t easy to shake, especially for wide receivers who have to start and stop, make hard cuts and sprint multiple times during a game.

It may be too little too late, but if Rice can get back on the field and reestablish the chemistry he had with quarterback Brett Favre last season, the Vikings could be poised to make a late run at the playoffs. Upcoming games against the Cardinals, Redskins, Bills and the fading Bears will be key in deciding their fate in 2010.