Covid Has Been an All-Too-Familiar Part of Vikings Season
K. Joudry
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The Minnesota Vikings have dealt with a lot of roster hurdles this season because of Covid. They’re once again dealing with more absences leading into their MNF game against the Bears:
Minnesota has put three players — Alexander Mattison, Dede Westbrook and Dan Chisena — from its 53-man roster on the Reserve/COVID-19 list over the past two days. A trio of others — A.J. Rose, Jr., Kyle Hinton and Trishton Jackson — were placed on the Practice Squad Reserve/COVID-19 list.
Zim addressed how much of an issue it has been for his team:
“I think it’s more just one of the obstacles,” Zimmer said Tuesday. “I know when I came in today, yesterday, I got texts that ‘this guy’ is positive … today we had some positives. “You know, so it’s trying to figure out who’s up next and where we go from here. But yeah, I mean, every single morning I’m going to get some kind of text and update,” Zimmer added. “It seems to be worse right now, maybe worse than it was last year at any point in the season to me, but I don’t know.”
As always, the thing that matters most in these scenarios is health (both short and long term). The primary goal is simply for all of these players to be fully healthy.
From a football perspective, it’s yet another instance of the Vikings needing to overcome hurdles as they pursue an unlikely playoff run. Mattison is a strong RB2, someone who has great physicality, deceptive speed, and soft hands. Chisena can be a terror on special teams because of his elite speed. Westbrook has steadied the punt returner spot a year after it was a major issue. Minnesota will need to respond by elevating other depth players.
Another factor to keep in mind is the increased challenge of in-game injuries on Monday. If, for instance, Dalvin Cook goes down, the Vikings won’t be able to turn to their strong RB2. Instead, it’ll be a combination of Kene Nwangwu, CJ Ham, and recently signed Wayne Gallman. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Covid has merely been one factor that has made the Vikings season challenging. There have been boneheaded mistakes and injuries aplenty. Hopefully, the worst is behind the team.
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