By DAVE CAMPBELL
AP Sports Writer

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.(AP) — Brett Favre has been throwing the ball
for the Minnesota Vikings much more than he thought he would.

Another surprising development? Coach Brad Childress is
encouraging it.

When Childress and the Vikings finally persuaded Favre to sign
with them, many fans and analysts skeptically predicted injuries
and interceptions – and butting heads. How was the cautious
coach with a preference for flat-line emotions and making the
safe throw going to fit with Favre, one of the all-time great
free-stylers?

Well, perceptions are often exaggerated. And people change.

Favre didn’t have firsthand experience with the before version
of Childress, but he echoed the sentiment of his teammates after
the coach’s contract was extended that Childress has become more
willing to listen to input from his players.

“Guys go up, ’Hey, I can beat him on a post. We can run over
here,”’ Favre said. “He’s open to that. I think as a head coach
the give-and-take has to be there, especially with a veteran
team like we have here.”

Favre has a lot of freedom to read the defense at the line of
scrimmage and change the play from a run to a pass, or vice
versa, and he’s called a lot of audibles. Tight end Visanthe
Shiancoe joked Favre does that about “63.7354 percent” of the
time.

He’s also not shy about lobbying for an aggressive approach when
he comes to the sideline between series and shares with
Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell what he’s
seen. During one recent game, Favre reminded Childress how open
wide receiver Sidney Rice was, and the coach told his
40-year-old quarterback that he tells him that all time.

“Right. Now you’re starting to believe me,” Favre fired back.

Childress wouldn’t have pursued Favre so persistently this
summer if he didn’t believe the NFL’s all-time leading passer
would thrive – assuming he was healthy – in this West Coast
offense he knows so well. Nor would he have wanted Favre on the
team if he didn’t feel his personality would mesh with his or in
the locker room.

Even Childress, though, couldn’t have envisioned having this
much faith in Favre’s surgically repaired right arm. In the
first half of Minnesota’s win on Sunday over Chicago, the Bears
were consistently blitzing defensive backs and stacking the line
to leave man-to-man coverage on the outside against the wide
receivers.

“Hey, Bev, throw it again. That’s a first down: Throw it again.
Keep throwing it,” Childress recounted his advice to Bevell
before noting his conservative preference for play calling:
“That’s almost heresy. I can’t believe that’s coming out of my
mouth on the sideline.”

Confidence is the word to explain the willingness by Childress
to give Favre a long leash and let him go to work. Clearly, in
addition to an upgrade at quarterback and an improvement by the
receivers, the coaches have called a more aggressive and
effective game this season than in the past.

“We know what we’re doing with the pass game. We trust what
we’re doing with the pass game, the protection game,” Childress
said. “Let’s move it this way.”

When Childress picked Favre up at the airport in his own
vehicle, their link to this fabled 2009 Vikings season – be it
success or failure – was sealed. Childress, predictably,
downplayed his chauffeuring as a “civil thing to do” and hasn’t
given any indication he listens to Favre more than he does the
team’s other veteran leaders.

“Any professional you ever find that’s worth his salt can take
coaching,” Childress said, adding: "Brett’s been tremendous that
way. The system has changed a little bit … but I think he’s
got a pretty good mastery of what it is we’re doing right now.

“He’s all ears.”

Favre casually refers to the coach as “Chili,” the only player
who’s ever done that in public. He has expressed nothing but
respect, though, for the guy who wouldn’t stop asking him to
come and play for the Vikings this year.

“He’s exactly what I thought he would be. Guys like him,” Favre
said, adding: “He caught a lot of heat throughout the whole
courtship or whatever you want to call it, but I give him an ‘A’
for effort. The team has thankfully welcomed me in. He had to
overcome some things with the team, as well as myself, by the
way it went down. But it seems to me that the guys have not only
accepted me, but how the process unfolded. Obviously winning
helps with that. It’s been everything that I expected it to be,
and he has been a blast to work with.”

Favre, too, has morphed from a risk-taker into more of a system
manager, though he is making plenty of bold throws as Rice,
Shiancoe and Percy Harvin continue to prove his decisions right
with tough catches in traffic.

Ultimately, the faith in Favre by the coaches comes from his
ability to help do their jobs on the field and in the huddle,
where they’re not allowed to be.

“He knows what buttons to push on each guy,” Bevell said. "He
knows when to get them to laugh. He knows when to get them
serious. He’s just phenomenal with his leadership skills.

“Then you can see he’s always communicating, whether it’s when
they come off after a play and say ‘Hey, I’m seeing this,’ or
looking at the pictures and saying, ’I’m seeing this.’ There’s
always constant dialogue and communication.

“I think it’s important as a coach to know what your players are
seeing.”

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