But Frerotte did recall the eerie similarities to 2003, when he replaced Vikings starter Daunte Culpepper for two games. Culpepper had three transverse process fractures, and he missed two starts. Frerotte started in his place, leading the team to two wins and putting up very impressive numbers.

Remarkably, Culpepper was injured in the first half in Detroit, although he left with the lead. Then, Frerotte started the next game and led the Vikings to a 28-0 halftime lead against the San Francisco 49ers.

"It's kind of funny because it's almost exactly the same thing," he said. "I think I was player of the week that week.

"It's like D?j? vu. It's crazy."

Frerotte said today was his first real test, and he felt good during the practice. Frerotte said he would have a better sense of where he's at in the morning.

Childress also declined to confirm Buck's assertion, indicating that the announcer told him that he learned of the injury in a roundabout way. Buck lives in St. Louis, in the same neighborhood as Frerotte's family, Childress was told.

Childress said Tarvaris Jackson and Frerotte split today's reps at quarterback evenly.

"You'd like to do it sooner rather than later," Childress said of announcing a starting quarterback. "But I think the point is, you got a guy coming off of an injury, so it just makes sense to give both of them a piece of the action."