Childress on Vick, Ferguson

Today's announcement that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick will plead guilty to federal dogfighting charges ends any chance that he will face the Vikings in the Sept. 9 regular-season opener, but Vikings coach Brad Childress had little reaction to the news.

"He's a good player," Childress said, "but they're going to do what they're going to do in terms of Joey (Harrington) throwing the ball and handing off. You don't all of a sudden abandon everything. Your scheme is your scheme. It's just a matter of executing it, I think."

Coincidentally, the New York Jets, the Vikings' opponent last week, played Atlanta in the exhibition opener and Childress was able to look at some tape of the Falcons' offense.

"So just by a quirk of fate, you kind of see what they're trying to do and how they're trying to do it," he said.

On another subject, Childress said the Vikings remain interested in signing former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Robert Ferguson, who was in Houston to meet with the Texans after visiting Winter Park on Sunday.

Childress said Ferguson was late leaving the Vikings' facility and missed his Sunday night flight to Houston but denied any responsibility.

"I don't run Northwest Airlines or whoever the carrier was to Houston," Childress said with a smile. "I can't vouch for that. ... He was out of my office in plenty of time."

One more note: Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said the Vikings' plan is to get defensive end Erasmus James some playing time in Saturday's game at Seattle, but they will continue to monitor his progress in practice. James hasn't played in a game since tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament last September.