ARLINGTON, Tex. -- Hello from AT&T Stadium, where the Vikings will try to get their second win of the year this afternoon against the Dallas Cowboys. Now that inactives are official and we have a couple lineup changes, we can tie up a couple loose ends from this week.

First, Josh Freeman will be inactive today, as Matt Cassel backs up Christian Ponder. The Vikings worked with Ponder, then Cassel, then Freeman taking practice snaps all week, and that order turned out to be a good indicator of the depth chart for today. Some of you have been asking on Twitter why the Vikings are making Freeman inactive again, but if he's still trying to handle the Vikings' offense while coming off a concussion, do you really want him stepping into a game in relief on the road? If the Vikings are indeed trying to manage the process by which they bring Freeman along after rushing him into their lineup last month against the New York Giants, they might as well not leave anything to chance.

Also, Xavier Rhodes will start at right cornerback for the Vikings in place of Chris Cook, who is out today with a strained hip muscle. The Vikings had previously been unwilling to put Rhodes on the right side because it would take him out of his routine of playing left cornerback in the nickel. The Vikings figure to spend plenty of time in nickel against the Cowboys' prolific passing game, though, so it will be interesting to see how they line things up when they have three cornerbacks on the field.

In addition to Cook and Freeman, Jamarca Sanford, Rhett Ellison, Fred Evans, Matt Asiata and Jeff Baca are inactive today. Defensive tackle Chase Baker is active for just the second time this year, and both wide receiver Rodney Smith and cornerback Shaun Prater will play today.