http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/sports/football/vikings-place-matt-cassel-on-injured-reserve.html 2014-09-25 06:44:23 Vikings Place Matt Cassel on Injured Reserve Minnesota placed the quarterback on injured reserve with broken bones in his left foot, and the rookie Teddy Bridgewater will replace him as the starter. === The Minnesota Vikings placed quarterback Matt Cassel on injured reserve with broken bones in his left foot, and the rookie Teddy Bridgewater will replace him as the starter. But when Bridgewater takes on that job for the first time Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, he may be auditioning for something even bigger: the role of face of the franchise. The Vikings traded their way back into the first round on the opening night of this year’s draft to snag Bridgewater in hopes that he could finally become the long-term answer at quarterback the team has been searching for since Daunte Culpepper went down with a knee injury in 2005. With Adrian Peterson away from the team while he faces child abuse charges, and with the chaos from Peterson’s legal problems and injuries to several high-profile players threatening to derail the team less than a month into the season, the Vikings are searching for a new identity. Christian Ponder, a former starter, will now be the backup for the Vikings, who also lost right guard Brandon Fusco for the rest of the year because of a pectoral muscle injury. The former Jet Vladimir Ducasse filled in for Fusco. Cassel and Fusco were both hurt Sunday at New Orleans. QUESTIONS ABOUT BIRONAS Kern said descriptions of Bironas chasing people and trying to run them off the road before losing control of his sport utility vehicle on Saturday were stunning because he never saw anything that would indicate that Bironas, whom Kern called a big brother, could behave that way. “This is just kind of hard to take because it’s not him at all, so it’s tough to hear everything coming out,” Kern said. A missing-person report filed by Bironas’s wife, Rachel Bradshaw, the daughter of the Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, and disturbing 911 calls have raised questions about the circumstances around Bironas’s one-vehicle accident. Autopsy and toxicology tests were performed, but results may not be known for 90 days. Bironas’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday. Kern said Bironas, who was cut in March, had installed a kicking net in his backyard, expecting to sign with another N.F.L. team. Bironas had said he believed that a workout last week in Detroit went well. HARRISON BACK WITH STEELERS