MINNESOTA SPORTS FAN DAILY: Tuesday, October 10, 2017

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MSF Daily: 10/10/17

Vikings WIN @ Bears on Monday Night Football:

Sammy Sleeves was the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings when they took to Soldier Field for Monday Night Football against the division-rival Chicago Bears. However, just like in the videos from earlier in the year, he didn’t look like himself. He had a slight limp at the beginning but it quickly got worse as the game wore on. It was clear from the beginning that he was worried about that left knee and clearly favoring it.

Sam struggled to move the ball and see the field. Every snap, it looked like his biggest worry was his knee, not finding the open man. Watch him here on this safety. His timing is clearly off. Any QB, let alone a veteran like Bradford, should know that this ball needs to get out RIGHT NOW or there are going to be serious consequences.

The defense came to play again today. Andrew Sendejo has become a player I didn’t know he was capable of earlier in his career. You don’t see him stick out in coverage, though that is his weak spot. Sendejo loves to hit people. He is great in run help and REALLY good at laying the wood to Wide Receivers who dare to come over the middle of the field on him. Markus Wheaton learned the hard way.

Stephon Diggs was having issues with his upper leg all game and was rendered essentially useless. Bradford was finally pulled in favor of Case Keenum and the move saved the football game for the Vikings. I’m not calling Zimmer a genius. Everyone was calling for the change after seeing Bradoford for 1 or 2 plays.

The Vikings needed Adam Thielen to have a big day. It didn’t necessarily show up in the box score. Thielen finished with 34 yards on 5 receptions but he also had a big run play. You can see it below. These two plays by Thielen were essential to the Vikings’s first scoring drive, which eventually led to a Case Keenum…. READ MORE>>>

Twins Make it Official and Extend Molitor Through 2020; Fire Neil Allen:

We finally know the fate of Paul Molitor and the Twins’ Manager job. Today, Molitor and the Twins inked a 3 year extension that is believed to be worth about $4 Million, according to Lavelle Neal III of the Start Tribune.

Molitor is 227-259 as the Twins’ Manager.

It is somewhat of a Cinderella story, to see Molitor get this job back. Most betting men would have went against him as much as 3-4 weeks ago. Many didn’t even think Molitor would make it through with a playoff appearance. Those people were wrong. However, I would be interested to know how much public opinion and organizational pressures…. READ MORE

Antoine Winfield Jr and Others to Miss Michigan State Game; Rhoda to Start:

The Gophers will still be very short-handed in the secondary on Saturday. Two starting defensive backs, Antoine Winfield and Kiondre Thomas, have already been ruled out with injuries. On the bright side, it looks like Safety, Duke McGee, could be back on the field after missing the last two games for disciplinary reasons.

Fleck is rowing the boat backwards and continuing with Conor Rhoda at quarterback, though he admits he is more stuck with him than anything else.

“If there was a better answer today, I would have somebody else in there. That’s not the better answer”

But then he must also be delusional, saying this about Rhoda as well.

“He’s the better answer for our football team. He’s proven that he can run this offense very efficiently.”

Parise Back at Practice for Wild; Granlund Not:

Zach Parise was back at practice today for the Wild. He is hoping the back injury is behind him and he can start moving forward. Well, he claims he doesn’t have a back injury, even though Russo states multiple sources are confirming a back injury. Hockey stuff. (Insert Joe Mauer bilateral leg weakness joke). It would be nice to see Parise on the ice. Practicing isn’t a guarantee of game play for Parise.

“I think everything’s open. It’s more so waiting until it feels 100 percent. I mean, I feel like I’ve been playing too much lately at below 100 percent, and it gets to be a challenge after a while. So at least to start the season, I’d like to feel good going into the season and not be worried about an injury.”

Granlund, unlike Parise, was NOT back at practice today. He saw another doctor. Boudreau thinks it will be a short term absence.

MSF Daily by Eric Strack @RealMNSportsFan

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