MINNEAPOLIS — The helicopter pursuit and rock-star entrance gave way to football Wednesday as the Vikings tackled Day 2 of Favremania.

While more national media descended upon Winter Park to chronicle Brett Favre’s return to football, the hysteria that greeted the future Hall of Fame quarterback a day earlier subsided while the Vikings practiced inside because of stormy weather. The buzz over the new guy playing quarterback was still palpable, however.
Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe described Favre’s presence as the “pink elephant” in the room. Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen jokingly asked a large group of reporters waiting for an interview if they realized he wasn’t Favre. And second-year quarterback John David Booty admitted Favre was his “idol” growing up and said “It’s a story (teammates) can tell their grandkids forever that I had a chance to be on the field with maybe the best to ever play.”
Welcome to the Vikings’ new normal.
“I think there’s been an energy in the locker room,” Allen said. “There’s been an excitement. Heck, fans are coming out, and you (media) guys are everywhere. There’s an excitement level.”
With that as the backdrop, Favre continued to get a crash course on the offense. Favre consulted with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers and even quarterback Sage Rosenfels extensively throughout practice as he tries to get up to speed.
Favre operated the West Coast offense for years in Green Bay, but the Vikings version has different nuances and subtleties. Even so, Shiancoe said he’s amazed by how natural Favre made it look on his first day.
“He jumped in there the first day and took charge of the offense,” he said. “What quarterback can really just come to a team and just take control of an offense like that and just run the offense and get the attention of everybody in the huddle? Everybody sees him as that nucleus. So everybody’s feeling really good.”
Favre also showed his arm strength as he rifled passes to receivers, including a bullet to Sidney Rice on a post pattern late in practice. Favre had surgery to repair a torn biceps tendon in May and is playing with a tear in his rotator cuff, but his velocity isn’t lacking.
Favre didn’t address the media Wednesday, but his teammates vouched for his arm strength.
“The dude’s throwing missiles out there,” Allen said.
“It’s hot, it’s hot,” wide receiver Bobby Wade said.
“Every ball is a fastball,” Shiancoe said. “I’m not sure if it’s his ’fast’ ball yet. I’m scared to see his ’fast’ ball, but it seems like they’re on a string.”
Favre’s former position coach and close friend Steve Mariucci watched practice Wednesday and said Favre’s arm looked “pretty good.”
“He was shootin’ it around,” said Mariucci, the former 49ers and Lions head coach who now serves as an NFL Network analyst. “I think the issue is, what will he feel like (today). He threw more today and he threw harder today than he did yesterday. So he’s just going to wait and see, is my arm feeling a little bit sore, is it fatigued? And it shouldn’t.”
Wade said Favre also has brought an air of confidence to the huddle. Favre’s swagger is legendary and Wade said it goes beyond his words.
“I think it’s the confidence that we are giving him more than anything,” he said. “It’s just a lot of respect for a player like that to be able to be on the same field with him. A guy taking snaps for you and possibly being able to catch a ball from him. A lot of respect.”
Wade said Favre’s relationship with his teammates inside the locker room will build slowly over time. Allen said the fact that Favre missed the first two weeks of training camp while everyone else endured two-a-days and dorm life is not an issue.
“Let’s be honest: The guy has been doing this a long time at a very high level,” he said. “If we’re all sitting in Miami waiting to go on (the field) for the Super Bowl, do you think anybody will really care that he wasn’t here in July? I don’t think so.”