ESPN NFL

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- OK, so we've heard from Donald Driver. Aaron Kampman has said his piece. Now, some Black and Bluers are anxiously awaiting word from Antoine Winfield.

Winfield

The Minnesota cornerback appears to have backed off his pledge to attend the team's offseason program; he has skipped this week's organized team activities after missing mandatory minicamp last weekend while attending a funeral. His absence corresponds roughly to the breakdown of negotiations on a long-term contract extension, but Winfield has not emerged publicly either to make that connection or shoot it down.

Winfield was in town as recently as Tuesday, when he took a mandatory physical at an off-site clinic. Coach Brad Childress said he met Winfield at the clinic and acknowledged they had a conversation, but Childress would not offer an explanation when speaking to reporters Thursday.

"I wouldn't speak for him," Childress said. "I'd say you'd have to ask him. I'm not coloring it any way. You'd have to check his reasons."

Childress wouldn't say last weekend whether Winfield's minicamp absence was excused. But as we've discussed many times, OTAs are voluntary. Veterans miss them regularly for any number of reasons. Driver, for example, missed last week's workouts in Green Bay because of a death in the family and his son's kindergarten graduation. Thursday, Winfield was far from the only veteran who didn't show up; tailbacks Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor were absent, as was placekicker Ryan Longwell and rookie defensive back Asher Allen.

But Winfield's case is slightly different. Winfield skipped the 2007 offseason program but later regretted it, blaming the decision for a series of injuries that limited him to 10 games. He vowed to always attend thereafter, and Childress said Thursday that Winfield had "perfect attendance" through the halfway mark of this year's program.

Winfield's contract expires after this season, and his agent told reporters May 10 that he was no longer in negotiations for an extension. Only Winfield can speak to whether his absence is related to that breakdown or whether it's just coincidental.

Whatever is going on here -- be it a contract dispute or a scheduling issue -- the importance is limited. It's hard to get too worried about a player missing voluntary workouts. It becomes a big deal if Winfield threatens to hold out of training camp. As of now, there are no indications of that possibility.