Count Joe Theismann among those who believe it’s getting to be time for the Vikings to replace quarterback Donovan McNabb with rookie Christian Ponder.

The Vikings are off to an 0-4 start with McNabb.

“I know Donovan has said he has been on teams that have started 0-2,” Theismann said Tuesday. “I don’t know if anybody has asked him if he has been on teams that started 0-4. But I think that’s probably the next question he’s going to get.

“The Vikings are not going to win the division. I think we’re probably within two or three weeks of seeing Christian Ponder.”

Theismann, 62, who is an NFL Network analyst, was in town to promote awareness of abdominal aortic aneurysms for males 60 and older. Theismann’s father, Joe, suffered one years ago and survived. Free screenings will be offered Oct. 15 at the Blaine K-Mart pharmacy. For pre-registration, call 866-371-3592 or go to findtheanswers.org.

Theismann retired at age 35 after three seasons of quarterbacking the Toronto Argonauts and 12 with the Washington Redskins that included a victory over Miami in the 1983 Super Bowl.

McNabb was benched by the Redskins last season.

“There were a lot of excuses for Donovan’s play in Washington last year – offensive line, wide receiving corps, the running game in general was not very supportive,” Theismann said. “When Donovan left to come to Minnesota, I said publicly: ‘You can’t hide anymore. This is on you. You’re going to be what you’re going to be.’ It’s what he was in Washington.

“I think Donovan McNabb is a great person. People have attacked him, and he has stood the test of time of all these people who have said stupid things about him. He has conducted himself with the utmost class.

“But,” Theismann added, “he can’t throw the football accurately. That’s a football observation. That’s just football talent – that’s who he is. He’s a career sub-60 percent passer. Which, to me, in this day and age of throwing the football, is paramount to not being very good.”

McNabb’s completion rate through four games this season is 58.6 percent.

“I think the world of him as a person, but as a football player…his mechanics are horrible. They’ve been horrible, they are horrible, they’ll remain horrible,” Theismann said. “And that’s unfortunate, because he’s too far into it now. His football work is bad, his accuracy is bad.

“He’s most effective extending the play, running around and throwing something down the field. It’s what he did (for the Eagles) in Philly. But you leave Donovan in the pocket, you’ve got a one-in-three chance of him hitting the receiver.”

That’s unfortunate, Theismann said.

“When I look at the quarterbacks in this league, I think Donovan, if he were more accurate, could be a top-five quarterback,” he said. “We would be talking about Donovan like we talk about (Tom) Brady and (Drew) Brees and Peyton Manning. But he’s not accurate! I think his athletic ability has masked the problems with accuracy.”

The Vikings are paying McNabb $5.05 million in base pay this season.

“The Colts are paying Kerry Collins $4 million,” Theismann said. “That’s more absurd! If Kerry Collins is going to quarterback the Colts for $4 million after being there two weeks, Donovan should have gotten $14 million. That’s how absurd the money in the game is today.”

Theismann said his top salary with the Redskins was $1 million in 1983 after Washington won the Super Bowl.

As for Ponder, it’s his turn, Theismann said.

“If the Minnesota Vikings truly are going to look to the future, you have to give him a chance to play,” he said. “Sitting him for a year accomplishes nothing in his growth. You drafted him to be the quarterback of this football team going forward.”

Starting Ponder with the Vikings’ inferior offensive line and no downfield receiver threat could affect his confidence, and worse, his health.

“The (Vikings’) offensive line is bad,” Theismann said. “You’re limited, but you’re still going to have to learn. Are you going to wait until you think you have an offensive line to put him out there? The experience is worth the risk at this point.”

DON’T PRINT THAT

Seymore Augustus, the father of Lynx star Seimone Augustus who is in Minneapolis for tonight’s Game 2 of the WNBA Finals against Atlanta, sports a tattoo on his forearm that reads “Proud Dad” accompanied by an Olympic torch with Seimone’s USA basketball jersey No. 5 on it.

Hardly anyone has noticed, but former Rochester Mayo basketball standout Coco Miller, 33, is a backup guard for the Atlanta Dream.

Miller’s identical twin, Kelly, a guard for the Washington Mystics, is in town watching the WNBA Finals with family members. The Millers led Mayo to Minnesota high school championships in 1995 and 1997.

OVERHEARD

Brett Favre, who turns 42 next week, asked on “The Zone” radio in Atlanta whether he made a mistake playing the past two seasons for the Vikings, who paid him $29 million: “I won’t lie to you. There have been times, not anymore, but there have been times once that season started – numerous times – that I thought I shouldn’t have played, this was a mistake.”