"His record as a starter speaks for itself," Childress said on Monday.  "I'd like [him] to do a little bit better job with that ball security, and that ends up being the premium.  By and large, he's been decent [in] decision-making.  I always want to see us make the routine plays routinely.  [Against the Redskins,] I thought we left a couple throws on the field. . . .  But then, I think he has made some very, very good throws.

"But I'd just like to do a better job of securing the football.  And some of that is on him and some of that is on other people."

The Vikings would have the cap room to pay McNabb; the challenge would be whether they'd be willing to give the Eagles what they'd want via trade.  Reports recently circulated that an unnamed team learned before the 2007 trade deadline that Philly wanted a whopping three first-round picks for the No. 2 overall pick in the 1999 draft.

Though that very well might have been a deliberate effort by Philly to get more than the second-round pick that the market might otherwise dictate, it's a given that the Eagles would want to get as much as they could, if for no reason other than to justify parting ways with McNabb.

And whether it's McNabb or someone else, there's a growing sense of unease regarding the ability of Jackson to take advantage of the crowd of defenders obsessed with stopping running back Adrian Peterson.  Surely, there are quarterbacks out there who would be able to ring up 30-plus points per game with only two or three defensive backs to worry about.