Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings lost 23-17 at Mall of America Field inside the Metrodome Saturday night. The turning point in the game was when Gerald Sensabaugh blocked a Ryan Longwell kick and Alan Ball returned it for a touchdown. Donavan McNabb played through 1 series in the 2nd half and had 164 yards passing on 12-18 with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His TD pass from a 49-yarder to Bernard Berrian in the first half.

The Northstar Commuter Rail and the Northstar Bus Link will be running during Vikings games. During all home pre-season and regular season games they'll have special trains and buses to-and-from Mall of America Field at the Metrodome.

The Vikings host the Dallas Cowboys Saturday night at 7pm, pregame on AM 1390-the Fan at 6:00. The Vikings are 1-1 in preseason games and so are the Cowboys. Minnesota will start Donovan McNabb at quarterback Saturday night and he'll likely play the entire first half. 2nd year pro Joe Webb will be the 2nd quarterback to play and rookie Christian Ponder is the 3rd string quarterback this week.

Viking tight end Visanthe Shiancoe suffered a setback in practice Wednesday tweaking his hamstring injury. Shiancoe will now likely miss his 3rd straight preseason game this Saturday. Running back Toby Gerhart missed practice again Wednesday with a sore ankle and Achilles. An MRI revealed no damage to those areas on Gerhart.

The Vikings will have to play the rest of the preseason and possibly beyond without defensive tackle Kevin Williams. Williams saw a foot specialist this week and revealed the severity of the injury Tuesday. Williams plans to rest for precautionary reasons. He may also be suspended for 2 games to begin the season for a violation of the NFL substance abuse policy for taking a banned diuretic (StarCaps) in 2008. Sources close to the NFL expect a decision to come down before season begins.

The Vikings are concerned about the right foot of defensive tackle Kevin Williams. Williams saw a foot specialist Monday and head coach Leslie Frazier will update the media today. The Vikings placed right guard Scott Kooistra on injured reserve ending his season because of a neck injury.

Thousands of people visited the Metrodome during an open house over the weekend and the first 3,000 fans received apiece of the former Metrodome roof that collapsed last year. The open house also gave those in attendance a glimpse of the new Metrodome roof.

The Vikings beat the Seattle Seahawks in a preseason game 20-7 in Seattle Saturday night. Marcus Sherels returned a Tarvaris Jackson pass 64 yards for a touchdown for the Vikings in the first half and Minnesota led 13-0 at halftime. Donavan McNabb played into the 2nd quarter and was 6-8 passing for 81 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Adrian Peterson had 6 carries for 16 yards and rookie Kyle Rudolph led the team with 3 catches for 22 yards.

The Vikings will have to play without receiver Percy Harvin (ribs) and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe (hamstring) Saturday night when they play their 2nd of 4 preseason games at Seattle at 9pm, pregame on AM 1390-the Fan at 8:00. Harvin missed practice time this week with a rib injury while Shiancoe will miss his 2nd straight game with a hamstring strain.

The Vikings practiced Wednesday without receiver Percy Harvin. Harvin sat out with a rib injury he aggravated Tuesday. His backup as a slot receiver Greg Camarillo missed practice as well with a sore groin. Both are questionable to play Saturday night at Seattle at 9pm, pregame on AM 1390-the Fan at 8:00.