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MINNEAPOLIS -- In a preseason filled with disappointment for Tarvaris Jackson, Thursday's performance had to rank near the top of the list.
The Minnesota Vikings' backup quarterback misfired badly on two passes, led the patchwork starting offense to only one first down in four possessions and was booed on multiple occasions while completing 2 of 8 passes for 2 yards and a 39.6 passer rating.
"It's always frustrating to start 0-of-6," Jackson said. "Couple balls batted down, couple balls I should have completed. It didn't happen. Got to move past that."
Jackson went through all of training camp and the first preseason game as the starter before Brett Favre -- who sat out on Thursday with the rest of the real starting offense -- showed up on Aug. 17.
He finished the preseason by renewing questions about whether he even deserves to be the No. 2 ahead of Sage Rosenfels, who was the better quarterback in game action throughout the exhibition season.
"Of course, you want to play well enough in the games," Jackson said, "but I feel like I played good enough in practice to solidify second spot. But if I didn't, Coach got to make that decision, and it's their job to make a decision, so I'm going to live with whatever decision they make."
Coach Brad Childress continued to stand behind Jackson, reiterating that "Sage was fortunate to have some different opportunities that Tarvaris didn't have in the first three games. I've seen a lot of (Jackson) throughout training camp and I kind of know where he's at."
In four preseason appearances, Jackson was 12-for-26 passing (46.2%) for 60 yards. Rosenfels -- who was 1-for-4 passing for 10 yards in limited action on Thursday -- finished 31-for-51 (60.8%) for 402 yards and four touchdowns.
"There's always things you wish you could do better," Rosenfels said. "The full body, all of the plays, all of the pass plays and all of the plays from the preseason -- I'm pretty happy with it. There's not much more I could have done."
Granted, Jackson was working with second-stringers against Denver's No. 1 defense, and a drop by tight end Jeff Dugan on the second play did Jackson no favors. But Jackson also hurt himself with multiple bad passes and hung his head on the bench once it was over.
He threw behind an open Garrett Mills up the seam, gunned a third-down pass through Mills' arms against tight coverage, inexplicably threw inside on an out for Javon Walker on another third down and had a swing pass batted down.
The boos started during the opening series, when the Vikings failed to gain a yard after starting with first-and-5 from their 38-yard line, and echoed loudly inside the Metrodome when cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson almost picked off the miss for Walker.
Asked if he was bothered by the crowd's reaction, Jackson said, "This is Year 5. Maybe my rookie year. Second, third year I would have got mad. It's got to a point now where I don't even care."
Meanwhile, fourth-stringer Joe Webb's entrance in the third quarter was cheered roundly, and the rookie promptly ripped off a 41-yard scramble to set up an Ian Johnson touchdown run.
Webb later threw an interception but drew another ovation by chasing down cornerback Alphonso Smith to prevent a touchdown. He finished 5-of-9 passing for 100 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown strike to Javon Walker.
And didn't get booed once.
"That situation's very hard," Webb said. "Hopefully, I won't be in that situation. I am a fan favorite. I was a fan favorite back in college, so I'll just try to continue my reputation."
