If Brett Favre knew then what he knows now, would he ever have come back to the Minnesota Vikings?

His wide receiving corps is being thinned out as it appears Sidney Rice will miss at least the first half of the season as he has finally elected to have some poorly timed surgery on his ailing hip. Rice visited the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo., on Monday, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Rice has seen three specialists this offseason, per the report, with two recommending surgery to fix an injury he suffered in the NFC Championship Game. How and why Rice waited until the final week of August to come to this determination is anyone’s best guess. The Star Tribune reported he could have been peeved that the Vikings didn’t come to him for a contract extension.

So, Favre faces going into the season without his top receiver from last season and the situation with Percy Harvin is probably day-to-day at this point with Harvin having missed the vast majority of training camp. Enter 31-year-old Javon Walker, who Favre played with in Green Bay. The Vikings are going to reportedly sign him and see if there is anything left in the tank. His career has pretty much been in the tank sincehe and Favre split ways.

Rice is on the physically unable to perform list and if he has surgery he’ll certainly begin the season on PUP meaning he will not cost the team a roster spot. Rice’s surgery came to light in July when his agent Drew Rosenhaus tweeted out information about it. What has to be most bothersome for the team is Rice could have been healed by July had he taken care of the issue early in the offseason.

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