EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Minnesota quarterback Tarvaris Jackson is listed as probable for the Vikings' game Sunday at Chicago, making it likely that he will get his first start in three weeks.
Jackson injured his groin against Detroit in Week 2, when he threw four interceptions.
Veteran Kelly Holcomb started the next two games. He kept the turnovers to a minimum, but also had trouble igniting a sputtering offense in losses to Kansas City and Green Bay.
The Vikings had a bye last week, giving Jackson time to recover. He has said he is not 100 percent but is feeling better every day.
Coach Brad Childress has said all along that Jackson, one of the team's three second-round draft picks a year ago, is his starting quarterback when healthy. But the coach was typically tight-lipped after practice Friday when asked who would start against the Bears.
"I am listing him as probable, how's that?" Childress said with a grin. "He practiced better today out here."
Childress was more definitive in his comments about a locker room fight between defensive end Erasmus James and running back Chester Taylor earlier in the week. The coach downplayed the scuffle, saying that kind of thing happens regularly on most teams during a long NFL season.
"I have been doing this a long time now. There are a lot of tiffs in the locker room," Childress said. "I mean when you have 53 type-A personalities that play an aggressive game, that are competitive as hell, that stuff happens.
"While I think it gets sensationalized sometimes, that's not for me to decide what goes in the newspaper or on the blogs or what have you."
Taylor and James declined to comment on Friday, and Childress held a team meeting to clear the air after the fight Wednesday.
"You don't stick your head in the sand and act like nothing occurred," Childress said. "You talk about it."
James is listed as questionable on the injury report with a shoulder injury. Childress said James was injured in practice and not during the scuffle. Linebacker Ben Leber (ribs) is also questionable.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
