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Favre returns (again): QB meeting with Vikings

By DAVE CAMPBELL, AP Sports Writer 25 minutes ago

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP)—Brett Favre(notes) is on his way to Minnesota to meet with the Vikings.

Coach Brad Childress confirmed in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Tuesday morning that the 39-year-old quarterback was traveling from Mississippi to meet with the team, just three weeks after Childress said Favre told him he would stay retired.

Asked if the plan was to sign Favre on Tuesday, Childress replied: “In a perfect world.”

The Vikings finished training camp last week and beat Indianapolis 13-3 in their preseason opener Friday. They got a strong performance from quarterback Sage Rosenfels(notes), who has been competing with Tarvaris Jackson(notes) for the starting job since Favre jilted the team July 28.

The longtime Green Bay star, who holds almost all the NFL’s career passing records, has never been much of a fan of offseason practices, though. Last summer, he ended his retirement with the Packers and forced a trade to the New York Jets, where he faded down the stretch amid problems with his throwing arm.

He had arthroscopic surgery to fix that in May, spent this summer working out and led everyone to believe he was on his way back to the NFL until his surprising announcement last month.

“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made,” Favre told ESPN then. “I didn’t feel like physically I could play at a level that was acceptable.”

The next day, Childress was asked whether there was a chance the Vikings would still pursue Favre at later point. He said: “Not from my standpoint, no.” Owner Zygi Wilf reiterated that pledge during the first week of training camp.

And yet, here comes Favre, who turns 40 in October. He said last month he didn’t think he had enough left to get through a full season.

“I had to be careful not to commit for the wrong reasons,” Favre said then. “They were telling me, ‘You went through all this, you had the surgery and you’ve got to finish it off.’ But I have legitimate reasons for my decision. I’m 39 with a lot of sacks to my name.”

The Vikings are expected to challenge for the NFC North title this season, whoever is behind center.

Rosenfels and Jackson had some rough moments during practice. Jackson hurt his knee, missed a few workouts and then returned, but he was out of sync last week against the Colts. Rosenfels did well, but preseason games are tough to evaluate and Indianapolis held out all four starting defensive backs.