Bradford to play?

Minnesota has a Monday night date with the Chicago Bears, and it’s looking more and more like former OU and Putnam City North star Sam Bradford will play for the Vikings. He has missed the last few weeks with a sore knee.

Former OU star quarterback Sam Bradford spoke to reporters Friday, before his second straight practice with the team.

This came after two weeks of rest and a favorable response from the knee following his on-field work Thursday. The Vikings listed Bradford as a limited participant, but the sound of encouragement in his voice that was missing earlier only further raised the possibility that he'll be back under center when they play at Chicago on Monday night.

Bradford said he is "definitely feeling better" after missing his third straight game. Bradford declined to divulge the specific diagnosis, declining to comment on multiple reports that he's dealing with a bone bruise, but he said his condition is essentially residual effect from the ACL surgeries he had in 2013 and 2014.

After leading the Vikings to a decisive victory over New Orleans to start the season, Bradford watched Case Keenum take his place in a lopsided loss at Pittsburgh, a commanding win over Tampa Bay and a narrow defeat by Detroit.

He tried to practice after the first absence on Sept. 17, but after experiencing more trouble mid-week he was shelved for the short term so he could benefit from some more healing. Bradford said the feeling in his knee on Friday was "night and day" different than it felt two weeks ago.

Bradford said he's expecting to have to play through at least some discomfort that might not subside until the bye week or the end of the season.

Buccaneers ponder future of struggling kicker Nick Folk

Nick Folk's future with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is up in the air.

The veteran kicker was signed in free agency to rectify a mistake the team made in drafting Roberto Aguayo in the second round last year, however he's been anything but a solution through four games.

Since going 4 for 4 on field goals to begin the season against the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings, the 11-year pro has missed five of seven attempts, plus an extra point the past two games.

Folk missed three field goals, two of them in the fourth quarter during a 19-14 loss to New England on Thursday night.

The 32-year-old who's also kicked for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets during a long career suspects the Bucs (2-2) will bring some possible replacements in for tryouts before Tampa Bay reconvenes for practice next week.

With the Bucs trailing 13-7, Folk missed a 56-yard attempt wide right on the final play of the first half. He missed kicks of 49 and 31 yards in the fourth quarter, the latter with 5:39 remaining and the Patriots clinging to a 16-7 lead.

The poor performance came on the heels of Folk missing two field goals and an extra point before making a 34-yard game-winner as time expired the previous week against the New York Giants.

Coach Dirk Koetter said after the game that he and general manager Jason Licht had discussed the situation and that "something will be forthcoming."

"But, you don't want to make any rash decisions," Koetter said.

The coach had little to add about Folk's future on Friday, shrugging off a question about impending plans to work out other kickers.

"I'm really not sure where that stands," Koetter said.

Mariota will be a game-time decision

Tennessee quarterback Marcus Mariota will be a gametime decision for Sunday's matchup against the Dolphins.

Mariota was listed Friday as questionable for the game in Miami after being limited in practice for the third consecutive day with a left hamstring injury suffered last week in a 57-14 loss at Houston.

"I've been able to get out there for a little bit, but the majority of practice I do a lot of rehab. My first and foremost goal is to get healthy, and that's what I've been working on," Mariota said Friday.

Mariota said he needs to have some mobility in order to be able to play. The Titans (2-2) are talking about letting him take part in Saturday's walk-through. But a final decision might not be reached until 90 minutes before kickoff Sunday when the list of inactives is due.

"I think if I'm able to move around and am able to hand the ball off, and am able to drop back, then I'll definitely play," Mariota said. "It's a tough decision. It's a decision that was made this past Sunday in Houston. It's never easy for an athlete. To that point, I'm going to do my best to get healthy, and hopefully, I'll be ready to go."