Favre says arm isn’t ready yet

MINNEAPOLIS Star Tribune

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Brett Favre worked out with a high school football team Wednesday, then said his arm wasn’t yet ready for him to commit to joining the Vikings.

Favre was interviewed by WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg, Miss., after throwing to players from Oak Grove High School during offseason workouts. He had arthroscopic surgery on a partially torn biceps tendon in his right shoulder on May 22, performed by Dr. James Andrews, and said he felt some pain on Wednesday.

“Dr. Andrews said more or less four weeks you should know if [surgery] was completely successful,” Favre said. “I threw a couple of balls today where I really felt it … different places in my shoulder where it’s sore.

“I threw the ball OK, but OK isn’t good enough in the National Football League. At least not for me. So it’s got to get better.”

Favre didn’t give a deadline for his decision, but seemed to indicate it wouldn’t be long.

“There is time, but there isn’t time, if that makes sense. I don’t need to wait for camp to say it’s 100 percent. I need to know before then, and so do the Vikings.”

Favre made an appearance on Joe Buck’s show on HBO on Monday, speaking about his courtship with the Vikings for the first time.

On Wednesday he said, “I know people are, like I said on TV the other night, are about fed up with it. That’s fine. It’s my life, and I’m trying to figure out what to do.”

Meanwhile, Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said players aren’t assuming Favre is going to be the team’s quarterback this season — even though Favre referenced the Vikings as “we” during the HBO interview.

“We all know that we’re interested in him and he’s interested in coming here, but when he says ‘we’ it’s kind of like it has to [officially] happen before we pay heed to it,” Shiancoe said. “It’s Favre-a-palooza, so you never know what’s going to happen.”

Shiancoe said there is no question in his mind that Favre simply is trying to decide if he can play.

“It all depends on his throwing arm, and we understand that,” Shiancoe said.