Vikings Training Camp Marred by Bad News after Optimistic First Three Days

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Aug 4, 2021
Mike Zimmer
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Vikings 2021 training camp started off with a bang, showcasing a happy edition of Mike Zimmer along with a rookie Kellen Mond who was delivering bombs to fellow rookie, Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Third-year offensive line lineman Oli Udoh was scaling the depth chart for a crack at the RG1 gig. New kicker Greg Joseph had a perfect second day at camp. Michael Pierce’s calf injury was revealed as minor.

That feels like one million years ago now.

On Saturday, news hit the wire that WR3-WR4 Bisi Johnson was lost for the 2021 season with a torn ACL. He was injured the day before in practice but returned with a leg brace. Ordinarily, Johnson’s injury would sully a good first few days of camp – but that development was only the tip of the iceberg for awful news.

Next, details dribbled out that Kirk Cousins, Kellen Mond, and Nate Stanley would all miss Minnesota’s Saturday night practice, a paid event for fans to see the team under the lights. So, what the hell?

Well, that was the fallout of a budding COVID vaccination ordeal. Those three quarterbacks are evidently unvaccinated. So when Mond contracted the coronavirus, down went Cousins and Stanley for the NFL’s close-contact safety protocols.

And that ripped open the curtains on the Vikings vaccine standing. By implication, onlookers learned that Jake Browning – who is in the running for the QB2 job – is the only vaccinated Vikings quarterback. Ergo, he played the entire practice at quarterback for the Vikings last weekend, minus a few nifty wildcat packages involving Dalvin Cook.

When “team vaccination percentages” were unveiled a couple of weeks ago, the Vikings were not mentioned as offenders. The most egregious bunch was the Washington Football Team. Ron Rivera’s team since rallied, vaccinating 84% of players. Replacing the Football Team was the Vikings or so the reports mentioned yesterday.

For the moment, Minnesota is the NFL’s least vaccinated organization, drawing ire from the Vikings head coach and concern from ownership.

Here’s documentation of owner Mark Wilf’s feeling on the matter:

While the dirty little secret about the Vikings lack of vaccinations was announced to the world, the franchise was mitigating the Jeff Gladney situation. The rookie from 2020 allegedly caused trouble in Texas during April, arrested for a vicious assault on his girlfriend (or so the charges claim). On Tuesday, he was indicted by a Texas grand jury. That was enough for the Vikings as Gladney was released after four months of wait-and-see by the team.

 

The New York Giants had a widely-reported fight in practice this week that involved quarterback Daniel Jones. Then, the Indianapolis Colts lost two important players, Carson Wentz and Quenton Nelson, to spookily similar injuries for 5-12 weeks. Those teams have arguably encountered more turmoil than the Vikings, but that is severely debatable. Zimmer’s smiles from last Wednesday and Thursday have morphed into vocal frustration about the vaccine stuff. In that regard, his straightforwardness has returned as Zimmer is not known for diplomatic words on Vikings matters.

Thankfully, the Vikings current woes are redeemable. If leadership can figure out a plan for more vaccinations, a clear WR3 emerges instead of Bisi Johnson, and the cornerback room never really misses Gladney – these items will be distant memories.

But that’s a big to-do list.