Criticism of the Vikings quarterback for holding the ball too long and taking eight sacks in the past two games comes from every corner of his team's headquarters and his family's home.

"My wife said, 'Why don't you throw it away,' '' Frerotte said. " 'I don't like seeing that.' Plus (coach Brad Childress). The D-linemen. The O-line."

Frerotte then playfully paused and added, "Let me see who else."

After averaging nearly 260 yards and two touchdowns during a solid three-game stretch, Frerotte's passing yardage and touchdown production has been cut in two.

And so nearly has he.

Frerotte has been sacked eight times and pressured, which often includes takedowns, 13 times in the past two games.

Four of those sacks were for one or zero yards, yardage which often suggests they could be avoided because the quarterback managed to get back to or near the line of scrimmage. At least two others were directly linked to Frerotte holding the ball too long, most notably on a busted bootleg play in Jacksonville on first and goal from the Jaguars' 2-yard line.

Frerotte kept rolling right and was sacked for a 10-yard loss.

"The last couple of games, I've just been in a little funk," Frerotte said. "We haven't had very good rhythm on offense, and we've got to get back on track."

Childress said Monday that Frerotte could have thrown the ball away in a couple of instances to "live to fight another day."

Frerotte doesn't believe that's a problem.

"No offense to him, but Ben Roethlisberger holds it too long," Frerotte said. "I don't think I'm holding it too long."

Frerotte said he's still adjusting to protections and the West Coast offense, pointing out that many quarterbacks need three years in that scheme before they can embrace making split-second decisions.

But the Vikings don't have that long, as they push for an NFC North title and the first playoff appearance of Childress' tenure.

Given his age (he's 37), Frerotte is assumed to be struggling with the physical toll of the season.

He says that isn't the case.

"I don't think it's a physical issue," Frerotte said. "It's just being comfortable, and throwing things on time, and trusting people. I think it's still getting to know guys and getting to know receivers in different situations."

For instance, with Sidney Rice returning to form after a knee injury early in the season, Frerotte hasn't had a chance to build a rapport with his 6-foot-4 receiver on high passes. In 2003, during his 2-0 stint filling in for Daunte Culpepper, Frerotte clicked with receiver Randy Moss on passes above the reach of most cornerbacks.

"I didn't throw any (high passes) to him in training camp, and we've only thrown two or three to him in a game," Frerotte said. "So when you don't throw them, you don't know how he's going to react to different coverages.

"When Moss was here, we threw them all the time," Frerotte said. "Those are the kind of things that just take time."

When the Vikings' passing offense was clicking, Frerotte connected with deep threat Bernard Berrian for a touchdown in four consecutive games. Since then, however, teams have assigned a safety to favor Berrian's side, providing help to a cornerback and leaving the other receiving options in single coverage.

"We need to step up," tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said of himself, Rice and Bobby Wade. "That means we're not doing our jobs (well) enough."

The challenge for the Vikings is to create ways to get Berrian, who has just four catches for 52 yards in the past three games, in more shallow parts of the field, as well as capitalizing on the other favorable matchups.

Shiancoe said Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell have been more open lately to suggestions from players.

"We're communicating a lot more," Shiancoe said. "We have trust in them, and they're definitely trusting us, which is opening up a lot of stuff on the field."

Statistically, the Vikings had their most productive offensive outing against the Bears, with 439 total yards. But the Bears were without their starting cornerbacks, and they played a more conservative defense in the second half as they protected leads.

"That game, we were in a great rhythm," Frerotte said. "We had turnovers, but we had a lot of good drives. We were really on top of our game."