Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer announced on Wednesday that some of the team’s starters are going to play in the team’s final preseason game on Friday.
Two weeks ago, the Minnesota Vikings decided to sit 30 of their top players out for their first 2021 preseason game against the Denver Broncos.
Then in their second preseason matchup with the Indianapolis Colts last Saturday, the Vikings ended up having at least a few of their top players out on the field for a few series, including Kirk Cousins, Adam Thielen, Michael Pierce, Eric Kendricks, and Brian O’Neill.
For their final preseason game of the year on Friday, most assumed that Minnesota would be sitting most of their top guys like they did against the Broncos. But according to Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer on Wednesday, that doesn’t seem like it’s going to be the case.
Minnesota Vikings are taking a stupid risk in final preseason game
During his press conference on Wednesday, Zimmer told the local Twin Cities media that Minnesota’s final preseason game is “going to be just like last week. The guys that played last week will play this week and the guys that didn’t, probably won’t play.”
So the Vikings are going to have players that are vital to their success this year like Cousins, Kendricks, and O’Neill suit up and take part in a meaningless game that isn’t going to benefit them in any way?
Great, what’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like Minnesota has ever experienced any sort of bad luck during their entire existence in the NFL.
But really, what is the benefit of the Vikings playing any of their starters on Friday? Instead of using their final preseason game as an opportunity to figure out which players at the bottom of the depth chart could help them in 2021, Minnesota wants Cousins to throw five more pointless passes to “help” him get ready for the regular season.
If the Vikings wanted their starters to take part in two preseason games this year, then they should have had them play two weeks ago against Denver. Instead, Minnesota is doing things backwards and having some of their most important players risk injury on Friday in a contest that means absolutely nothing.
Do we really think if Cousins gets off to a good start this season, he’s going to look back and be like “I don’t know if I would be playing this well if not for those five passes I threw in our third preseason game,”? No, of course he’s not going to say that.
So now, Vikings fans have to hold their breath during every snap that features the team’s first-stringers in hopes that none of them suffer a serious injury.
Minnesota is often labeled a snakebitten franchise for all of the bad luck they’ve experienced over the years. But if something unfortunate happens on Friday, it won’t be due to bad luck, it will be the result of a foolish decision.