Christian Ponder admits that things cannot get much worse. The Minnesota Vikings quarterback has already been benched once. There is nowhere to go but up from there. After being demoted in favor of both Matt Cassel and the newly signed Josh Freeman, Ponder is back at being the starter and trying to ignore the pressure.
Ponder will once again be the starter when the Vikings face off against rival Green Bay Packers. Ponder has not played since mid-September after he was knocked out due to a rib injury and then promptly benched after proving to be healthy once again. In his third year, Ponder has just 691 yards on the season while failed to get the team a win as a starter. While excited to be back on the field, Ponder vows to have a different mindset with his second chance.
"The biggest thing for me is to play more relaxed," Ponder said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "I feel like I came out here running the scout team and stuff and practiced relaxed and then came out here running the first team and practiced relaxed, too. That's going to be big for me. It's been an interesting ride. Obviously it swung away from me, it swings back and it's time to grab ahold of it and not let it swing away from me again. It's been obviously up and down. I think it's true to say that I was frustrated and down but I didn't let that effect me. I know this is an opportunity to step back and improve on some things and I did. It's got to translate out to the field though. I'm excited."
Ponder is right to use the term "interesting ride". After being drafted in the first round, the quarterback was thought to be the long-term answer for the Vikings. However he has yet to pan out as such. Trade and release rumors have swirled around him after being benched. Things only became more magnified when the Vikings signed Freeman and then named him the starter in Week 7. Now, Ponder gets one more go. If he fails again, his time in Minnesota is likely up.
"It feels good," Ponder said. "I want to be on the field, and this is my opportunity to get back out there again. I think it was good for me to kind of take a step back for a couple weeks and take a deep breath and learn from those first three games and get out there and play better. I'm excited for this opportunity. What a great way to come back out against the Packers at home. It'll be fun."
Head coach Leslie Frazier is hopeful that Ponder can pick up can carry the team with Freeman out. The Vikings appeared very ready to move on with the former Buccaneers quarterback as their future starter, but now with a second chance Ponder can move back on top of the depth chart.
