Vikings Notebook: Everson Griffen's knee injury isn't serious

Vikings' Everson Griffen, who was recently converted back to his original DE position after spending time at linebacker, is expected to be back soon from a minor injury he suffered Monday.

Coach Leslie Frazier said DE Everson Griffen’s knee wasn't severely injured on Monday and that he was merely suffering from a little soreness.

“We think he’ll be fine in a day or two,” Frazier said. “We’ll determine (Wednesday) if we’ll let him play in the ball game (Friday) or not. He’s a little bit sore -- nothing else involved.”

That was good news for Griffen, who on Monday started going through his second position change of the training camp. He came into camps as a defensive end who played a little linebacker (and punt-return gunner) last season, was converted to linebacker full-time for the first two weeks of training camp, and then, on the way home from San Francisco on Friday, was informed that he would be going back to the defensive line full time.

Apparently Griffen saw that conversation about the change a little differently. Frazier was informed by a reporter that Griffen said he requested the change. Frazier seemed a little taken aback by the statement, smiled a wry smile and replied, “If that’s what Everson said, it’s a good thing. It’s good for our team, and he’ll do well. He’ll do well there and we look forward to getting him back to full health.”

Simpson’s first-string reps should soon decrease: WR Jerome Simpson is suspended for the first three games of the season, yet he has been taking first-team reps throughout training camp. The coaches have said all along that they had a plan for working other receivers into the mix as those games without Simpson got nearer. According to OC Bill Musgrave, that time is very close. “We wanted to get Jerome up to speed, but we’re going to get to the point real soon where we start to prepare somebody else to play that split end for the first three games," he said.

Ponder’s decision-making shines: With all the lowlights that occurred in the Vikings' 17-6 loss to the 49ers in the first preseason game, OC Musgrave was able to find a bright one. In each of the first two series that led to Vikings' field goals, QB Christian Ponder threw away a pass that really had no chance of being completed. As a rookie, he might have tried to force the ball into a bad place and potentially caused a turnover or taken a sack. Musgrave was pleased with Ponder’s decision-making. “That’s the way winning football teams play,” Musgrave said. “They may have poor plays, but they are not so poor that the team has a tough time overcoming them to get the outcome that we want. We can overcome a lot of things, but when we turn the ball over or go backwards with sacks and penalties, those are more difficult to overcome.”

Guard play was good: A second bright spot in the 49ers game for Musgrave was the guard play. There are two new players (LG Charlie Johnson and RG Brandon Fusco) in those positions, and Musgrave said it was a definite improvement from last season. “We are more athletic at guard this year for sure,” he said. “Not to take anything away from Anthony Herrera and Steve Hutchinson, they were true warriors. But we are more athletic at guard and that showed up Friday.”

QB order changes: The Vikings will change up the quarterback rotation on Friday at home against the Buffalo Bills. Against the 49ers, QB Sage Rosenfels sat out the game, but this week he will be the third quarterback after Ponder and Joe Webb.  McLeod Bethel-Thompson could get some time if the game situation allows for it.

For more Vikings news, follow Joe Oberle on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLMIN or @joeoberle.