Vikings News: Stuff I Failed to Mention Over the Weekend—No Primetime Home Games, New Coach Benefits, Mocks!

As many of you know, I’m dealing with a health issue that for now is extending further than I anticipated, but is less severe to make up for it (which is a net positive, trust me). As a result, the site was a bit dead over the weekend and I missed out on reporting some news.

So, here’s a roundup!

– A few days ago, rising Star Tribune beat reporter Master Tesfatsion reported that the Vikings are in a tough spot to get home games in prime time because of the agreement that the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Vikings had agreed to in order to allow the Vikings to use TCF Bank Stadium while the new stadium is being built where the Metrodome once was.

That agreement spells out the fact that the Vikings can only hold one weeknight game in a season, but only when class isn’t in session. The school gets full veto power over that game. There is no Monday game time slot that happens on a Monday when the University doesn’t have classes scheduled in the fall semester, and Thankgiving is the only day on a Thursday there aren’t classes scheduled at UMN. That means the two weeknight slots are Monday, Week 16 on December 22nd and Thursday, Week 12 on November 27th.

The Vikings will also be asked to avoid playing at home the same weekend the Gophers do, but that will be next to impossible. It will likely mean the Vikings will minimize the amount of times that happens instead of eliminating the instance entirely.

Incidentally, should a home basketball or hockey game be scheduled at the same time as a Vikings home game, all parking will be prioritized for the Gopher event instead of the Vikings event.

– Winter Park looks different to returning players.

Head Coach Mike Zimmer had the team build a theater-style meeting room that fits the entire team (they didn’t have that before, I guess), upgraded the weight room and revamped the nutrition program, per Nate Davis at USA Today.

The Vikings are using the extra two weeks they have afforded to them as a team with a new head coach in order to familiarize Zimmer with the players, though activities are restricted basically to team meetings and strength training. They’ll distribute and drill in the new playbooks as well as create the tone for the rest of the season.

– The Daily Norseman has updated their Mock Draft Database.

In it, the Vikings select a quarterback nearly three-quarters of the time, and Teddy Bridgewater leads the pack. Johnny Manziel is a close second. There are more than a few selections of Derek Carr, and even a few of Blake Bortles. There also happens to be a fair bit of Khalil Mack and Anthony Barr, as well as some defensive backs and receivers. I encourage you to check it out. It even has excellent infographics that track those selections over the offseason.

 

In the offseason, this all qualifies as news.

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