The NFL reportedly thinks there was something fishy about Everson Griffen’s late scratch from the Minnesota Vikings lineup Sunday and now the league is looking into the matter.
Griffen was a surprise scratch when inactives were announced for the Vikings 90 minutes before kickoff against the Kansas City Chiefs. Griffen had not been listed on the injury report during the week and no situation had been revealed by the team leading up to Sunday.
When asked about the reason for Griffen’s out-of-leftfield deactivation, the Vikings said the defensive end was out with an illness.
And that was that? Not exactly according to the NFL.
The issue here is that, if a player suffers an injury or comes down with an illness between the final injury report and the announcement of inactives before the game, that situation is supposed to be revealed to the media and the opposing team.
If the Vikings knew that Griffen was sick at any point before the announcement of inactives and they didn’t reveal it, then that was a no-no on their part.
Did Everson Griffen wake up Sunday morning feeling crappy and not tell anyone until arriving at the stadium?
Did the Vikings know Griffen was sick and decide to hold back this information for tactical reasons?
Was this a simple matter of miscommunication?
These are the sorts of questions the league will be asking. Given Mike Zimmer’s overall disdain for the whole concept of disclosing injuries, it wouldn’t shock me if the Vikings pulled a little hanky-panky with the Griffen situation.
What punishments might be coming for the Vikings as a result of any rules violation? We’ll have to wait and see on that one.
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