Overblown probability

That whole deal where Vikings coach Brad Childress supposedly doubled the amount of players on his injury report just to tweak Bill Belichick? Much ado about nothing, apparently.

“I just felt like those guys were more questionable than probable,” Childress told the Minnesota Star-Tribune in Belichickian fashion. “In my opinion, it’s overblown, it’s an easy thing to write. I don’t think that’s a story every day. I know people are surely interested. Again, I’m not in your business, but I do know this: I’m in the business of team building and motivating and scheming, and if I look at somebody on the practice field and don’t think they are up to snuff that’s how I’m going to put them down.”

According to the Tribune, the move could have been “a nod to Super Bowl XXXIX, when Belichick utilized closed practices to surprise the Philadelphia Eagles with a unique defensive alignment that included two lineman and three linebackers on the line of scrimmage.” Childress was the Eagles OC at the time.

In other news, while it’s no surprise to learn that Bill Parcells might be ready to call it quits in the circus that is Dallas, we get one of the first inclinations that Romeo Crennel could be done in Cleveland. Newsday’s Bob Glauber writes, “Now that offensive coordinator Maurice Carthon is out in Cleveland, the spotlight turns to coach Romeo Crennel. He’s only in his second year, but the 1-6 Browns have shown no improvement over last season. And don’t forget, the Browns fired their previous two coaches, Butch Davis and Chris Palmer, before their contracts expired.”

Coincidentally, Crennel’s Browns face off against Eric Mangini’s Jets this afternoon, a battle of former Patriots defensive coordinators.