Dalvin Cook Out Sunday Due to Family Emergency

The Vikings are set to play their season finale in Detroit this Sunday, but it looks like they will be missing a crucial part of their offense. Dalvin Cook traveled back to Miami after the unfortunate passing of his father, James. Therefore, he will be unavailable against the Lions. Cook has been en route towards a great All-Pro season, but per Tom Pelissero, he decided it would be best to be with his younger siblings during this time. 

Cook’s absence brings up a question that Vikings fans must be thinking to themselves: Should the rest of the starters sit this week as well? The Vikings have virtually nothing to play for other than whatever pride they have left, and a win only hurts their draft position. Alexander Mattison has shown flashes, but he is no Dalvin Cook. We saw how stale the offense became against the Atlanta Falcons when Mattison was the feature back. Maybe another chance gives him some valuable experience in case he is needed at some point next season. 

If Mattison is also out, as he was last week, the possibility of bigger roles for both Mike Boone and Ameer Abdullah emerge. Abdullah had two seasons with Detroit where he ran for over 500 yards before being waived and picked up by Minnesota in 2018.

The Vikings are heading into an offseason where they will have to make many difficult choices in terms of their current roster construction. Sunday could be a jump start on making these decisions. It’s a good opportunity to see which of their young players and reserves are able to contribute in 2021 should they be given larger roles. 

On the other hand, Justin Jefferson is just a mere 46 yards from breaking the Vikings’ rookie receiving record, currently held by Randy Moss. As Jefferson has been one of the few bright spots on this Vikings team, it would be very cool to see him break that record in his final game as a rookie.

He also sits fourth all-time among NFL rookies in receiving yards, only 110 yards away from Anquon Boldin’s mark of 1377 yards back in 2003. Not only is it possible that he reaches that mark, but it may even be likely against a defense as porous as Detroit’s. All that said, nothing is certain as of now. We will just have to wait and see how the week progresses.

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