EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Brett Favre's nontraditional arrival in Minnesota is not stopping Vikings coach Brad Childress from taking a traditional approach to the team's preseason finale against visiting Dallas.

The 39-year-old quarterback will not play against the Cowboys tomorrow night.

"I don't see the upside," Childress said yesterday.

Most teams rest their marquee starters in the final preseason game to avoid the risk of injury with the regular season a week away.

What makes this situation unique, however, is Favre's recent arrival in Minnesota.

It's been a whirlwind for Favre ever since he arrived to a hero's welcome just 16 days ago. A helicopter followed him from a Twin Cities airport to the team's headquarters in Eden Prairie, where more than 100 fans swarmed Childress's SUV as it pulled into the parking lot.

Three days later, Favre was in uniform and looking every bit as rusty as could be expected. He went 1 for 4 for 4 yards in two series against the Kansas City Chiefs, but looked much more comfortable on Monday night in Houston.

Favre completed 13 of 18 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown while playing into the third quarter of a 17-10 win at Houston.

"I thought he made a nice jump from Week 1 to Week 2 and showed he's got a good understanding of what we're doing," Childress said.

Favre ran a similar offense for 16 seasons in Green Bay and has had no trouble getting up to speed with the Vikings' playbook. The biggest thing he has to work on is chemistry with his receivers, learning their tendencies and how each one puts his own variation on the routes that are run.

"I think we can be productive, but we've got to get it together pretty quickly," Favre said after the game Monday night.

SAINTS

YOUNG APOLOGIZES FOLLOWING HIS ARREST

New Orleans Saints safety Usama Young's failure to appear in court for parking in a handicap spot led to his arrest this week after he was stopped for speeding in a New Orleans suburb.

Harahan Police Chief Peter Dale said officers initially pulled Young over and intended to give him a ticket, but had to arrest him because records turned up an outstanding violation in Jefferson Parish. Sheriff's spokesman Col. John Fortunato confirmed that Young had failed to appear at a court date.

Young and his attorney, Donald "Chick" Foret, said the other citation came last year when the player was parked illegally at a cell phone store.

"I wanted to say I sincerely apologize for doing what I did. There's no excuse for it," Young said in a phone interview. "I ran into the AT&T store for a two- to three-minute stop to get a phone charger, and came back out and an officer was writing me a ticket. Immediately, I knew I was wrong."

OUTSIDE THE LINES

TEXANS OWNER DENIES SECRET LABOR MEETINGS

Houston Texans owner Bob McNair yesterday denied allegations that he participated in secret meetings to discuss NFL labor talks.

The allegations were in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against the NFL Players Association last week by union employee Mary Moran.

She says she was a confidential informant for the Labor Department and gave investigators evidence that former NFLPA president Troy Vincent and other union members met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and McNair. The meetings were allegedly to provide the league access to confidential union information.

Moran also alleges in the lawsuit that NFLPA executive committee member and former Texan Mark Bruener and Texans player representative Kris Brown attended the meetings.

"There's no truth to it at all," McNair told Houston television station KRIV. "There was never any involvement on my part or Kris Brown or Mark Bruener."

ELSEWHERE

Broncos: Moving to quell rumors, Denver coach Josh McDaniels said yesterday the team had not held any talks involving a trade of suspended Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall. "We're looking forward to having Brandon back on Sept. 6 and starting our preparations for Cincinnati with him," McDaniels said. "There's no discussions whatsoever taking place between the Denver Broncos and any team in the NFL regarding Brandon Marshall."

Chargers: San Diego coach Norv Turner confirmed what most people already guessed, that LaDainian Tomlinson will not play in tomorrow night's exhibition finale against San Francisco. Tomlinson started the first two exhibitions, bucking a tradition of having him sit out the entire preseason slate in order to stay healthy.