Cousins had symptoms and reported them this morning before his positive test, according to Adam Schefter (ESPN). Vaccinated or unvaccinated, he would’ve been forced to miss Sunday night’s game. He’ll be eligible to test out of protocols after five days if his symptoms subside, thanks to an NFL rule change last week. In the meantime, the Vikings are expected to turn to 6-year league veteran, Sean Mannion, to keep their 2021 playoff hopes alive vs the Packers.

I'm told that the Vikings are planning to announce Sean Mannion will be coming off the COVID-19/Reserve list today. He was placed on the COVID list last Sunday while Kellen Mond served as Kirk Cousins' backup. Mannion will be in line to start vs. GB.

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) December 31, 2021

Vikings’ QB Kirk Cousins tested positive for COVID, sources tell ESPN. As an unvaccinated player, he’s out Sunday night vs. Packers.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2021

Vikings’ QB Kirk Cousins had symptoms, self reported and then tested positive.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2021

Who is Sean Mannion?

Mannion hasn’t taken an NFL snap since 2019 and, in 13 career appearances, has 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Sean was drafted out of Oregon State in the 3rd round of the 2015 draft by the (then) St. Louis Rams. As a Beaver, Mannion racked up the passing statistics.

His 13,600 career passing yards still holds as the 2nd-most ever by a PAC-12 quarterback. His 4,662 passing yards and 37 touchdowns in 2013 still hold as PAC-12 single-season records. Mannion’s 54 career interceptions, however, also ranks 4th most in conference history.

The Minnesota Vikings will hope that Sean Mannion can bring some of his OSU magic to Green Bay on Sunday night or their season could come to an end. If the purple lose this weekend and the Eagles win, they will be eliminated from playoff contention.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Many in the media, however, would rather sell vaccination status storylines that pin the fate of the Vikings’ season on NFL rules that don’t always follow the science of how COVID-19 spreads. Data tells us that vaccinated people can contract and spread the virus (fully vaccinated countries are hitting record highs in cases) too, yet the league has MUCH stricter quarantine and mask-wearing procedures for their unvaccinated players. Why?

Then, those same media members (with plenty of help from Mike Zimmer) want to turn that vaxxed vs unvaxxed fight into locker room consternation that we don’t know exists. Yes, we know the head coach wants everyone vaccinated. He doesn’t want to worry about unfair rules effecting the availability of his unvaxxed players. But beyond what Zim has expressed in press conferences, we don’t actually know if the vaccination status of certain guys is stirring up controversy within TCO Performance Center. More importantly, the Vikings locker room.

Vikings had at least 13 players unvaxxed as of last week (so top rate of 81.1% with active roster and practice squad). They were no better than 77.3% on active roster (41/53 at best), but source had said several players were in process. https://t.co/UZPlI3nkFG

— Ben Goessling (@GoesslingStrib) September 8, 2021

He is selfish. He is not a leader.

Kirk Cousins’ leadership questioned over refusal to get COVID vaccine | Fox News https://t.co/gKPMUNgikD#VikingsChat #ProlongingThePandemic

— MN Vikings Chat (@mnvikingschat) September 2, 2021

What we should worry about

We do know the Minnesota Vikings offensive line was bad again last year. We also know that one of their two competent offensive linemen, Riley Reiff, now plays for Cincinnati. So, he’ll be on the field Sunday but not in a Vikings uniform. His replacement plan, 1st round draft pick Christian Darrisaw, hasn’t taken a practice snap yet because of a lingering injury.

Unless a miracle has unfolded during training camp, suddenly turning Oli Udoh and Rashod Hill into the starting-caliber offensive linemen that they’ve never been, the vaccine status of Kirk Cousins isn’t going to matter. He’ll be at home with broken bones and we’ll be stuck watching a 4-13 football team led by Sean Mannion.

So let’s focus on the things that realistically have a shot at torpedoing the 2021 Vikings. Panicking over the vaccine status of Kirk Cousins or other stars along the offense and defense makes no sense. But then again, neither does writing fluff pieces on Rashod Hill and Oli Udoh, who we all hope play as few downs as possible, vs hit pieces on a QB you can’t win without.

Welcome to 2021.

Maybe @Charley_Walters should come out and tell us how he really feels about Kirk Cousins? pic.twitter.com/Z6nJ2p5xfE

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 7, 2021

No, but to be fair, he did write about how the Vikings can realistically cut ties with the unvaccinated safety as early as next offseason lol. pic.twitter.com/BKxRyuDPqf

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 7, 2021

Anything can happen

This blog isn’t refuting anything written about “what could happen” if Kirk Cousins were to become a “close contact” or contract COVID-19 during the season. If that were to happen, he’d be forced to sit out of team activities for a longer period of time than someone who’s vaccinated. Yes, that could happen. But if we’re that upset about it, shouldn’t we also be questioning the premise behind the rules, especially if those rules don’t make sense?

Missing a week or two because of COVID-19 isn’t going to doom the Minnesota Vikings season anyway. I’m not going to speculate about a playoff or super bowl COVID absence. And it’s worth mentioning again: we’ve seen elsewhere in the NFL and around the world, vaccinated people can contract and spread the virus too. We have no idea what next week will look like in this world, let alone multiple months from now.

Much like an injury to the wrong player at the wrong time, COVID could impact the Vikings’ season. But the likelihood of it happening in a large way is being unsurprisingly overblown. If you want to look for something that could derail the season, look in a familiar spot: the offensive line.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Twins canceled baseball this weekend after some surprise positive COVID-19 tests that showed up late last week and into this weekend.

On Sunday afternoon, however, they announced their return for Tuesday afternoon, when they’re tentatively scheduled to play a doubleheader vs the Oakland Athletics.

Monday’s scheduled game between the Athletics & #MNTwins has been postponed to allow for continued testing & contact tracing involving members of the Twins organization. Subject to change, a traditional doubleheader has tentatively been scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (PT) on Tuesday.

— Dustin Morse (@morsecode) April 18, 2021

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Gophers have canceled their scheduled Saturday matchup with he Northwestern Wildcats. Positive COVID tests have continued across the football team, now reaching 47 positives since November 19 (21 students, 26 staff).

Here is the statement from the University of Minnesota Athletic Department:

Minnesota Athletics announced today that its Dec. 5 game against Northwestern has been canceled and all team-related activities remain paused. The game will not be rescheduled and will be ruled a no contest, per Big Ten policy this season. 

The decision to cancel the game against Northwestern was made by Director of Athletics Mark Coyle, President Joan Gabel and Gopher Athletics’ Medical Director Dr. Brad Nelson after consulting with the Big Ten Conference.  

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff continues to be our main priority,” said Coyle. “The last couple of days have shown a decrease in positive cases, but not to the point where we are able to return to competition. We are disappointed not to be able to compete against Northwestern on Saturday, but we need to continue to focus on following all CDC and MDH guidelines and slow the spread of the virus. We will now shift our priority to doing everything possible to compete at Nebraska on December 12, and our decisions will continue to be guided by our medical experts.”

In addition to the Big Ten’s established daily antigen testing, Minnesota announced last week that it was implementing additional PCR testing. Minnesota will also conduct all meetings virtually for the remaining duration of the season.

Minnesota first announced a pause in all team-related activities on Nov. 24, after 15 individuals (nine student-athletes and six staff members) tested positive for COVID-19 during a five-day span from Nov. 19 – Nov. 23. The program announced 10 additional positive tests (three student-athletes and seven staff members) on Nov. 25 and an additional 15 positive tests (eight student athletes and seven staff members) on Nov. 28. 

Since Nov. 19, the program has experienced 47 positive cases, which includes 21 student-athletes and 26 staff (anyone in daily testing who is not a student-athlete) members. 

Athletics is working with MDH on its positive cases and is continuing to follow all CDC and MDH guidelines. Minnesota’s next update will be released on Thursday, Dec. 3.

The football game scheduled between the Minnesota Gophers and the Wisconsin Badgers for this weekend has been canceled, per this University release:

Football Program Pauses Team Activities

The University of Minnesota football team will pause all team-related activities as it responds to positive COVID-19 cases in the program. 

The team’s scheduled game at Wisconsin on Saturday, Nov. 28, will not be played and will not be rescheduled, per Big Ten policy for this season. The game will be ruled a no contest. 

The decision to pause football activities was made by Director of Athletics Mark Coyle, President Joan Gabel and Gopher Athletics’ Medical Director Dr. Brad Nelson after consulting with the Big Ten Conference.  

“The health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff has always been our main priority,” said Coyle. “We have experienced an increase in positive cases recently and have made the responsible decision to pause team activities. We will continue to rely on the guidance of our medical experts as we navigate the next several days. We are doing everything we possibly can to miss the fewest amount of days possible. Our goal is to be healthy enough and ready to compete on December 5 against Northwestern.”

Nine student-athletes and six staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last five days. There were additional presumptive positive tests today and the program is awaiting confirmation of those results.

“This is the right decision,” said Nelson, the department’s medical director. “There was a sudden increase in positive cases and this pause will allow the team to focus on stopping the spread of the virus.”

In addition to the Big Ten’s established daily antigen testing, Minnesota will also implement PCR testing two times each week for members of the football program as it works to return to the field. 

“The health and safety of our student-athletes will always come first,” said head coach P.J. Fleck. “Like almost every program in the country, we have been affected on some level by COVID-19 every week this season, but these last few days have resulted in more cases than we have previously seen.

“I am disappointed for our student-athletes and our fans that we will not be able to compete on Saturday, but we need to focus on the health of our student-athletes and staff, which means stopping the spread of the virus. I support the decision made by our administration and medical professionals in consultation with the Big Ten Conference, and I want to thank our athletic trainers and team doctors for everything they are doing to support our program. We will return when it is determined safe to do so by medical experts.”

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Gophers football team has canceled all in-person football activities for Tuesday, after receiving a number of preliminary positive COVID-19 tests.

On Wednesday, the team hopes to return to a normal schedule and continue preparation for their game vs the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday. Here is the statement from the University of Minnesota Athletic Department.

Upon the advice of medical experts, the University of Minnesota football team will not practice on Tuesday and will conduct all meetings virtually as a result of presumptive COVID-19 positive tests Monday. The team’s goal is to return to a regular practice schedule on Wednesday in preparation for Saturday’s game at Wisconsin. An update will be provided when additional test results are returned and more information is available.

Statement from U of M Athletic Department

We talked a lot about COVID-19 in today’s scheduled media appearance with PJ Fleck. He mentioned that players were getting tested, as we spoke to him. It seemed to be standardized testing though, and nothing out of the ordinary. Then, we got hit with this announcement in the evening…

We don’t know how many positive results were returned from today’s tests, but if they are cancelling in-person football activities for tomorrow then it’s significant. If the preliminary positive tests are confirmed by 24-hour lab tests… then who knows what happens next?

I don’t want to speculate on something that hasn’t happened. As soon as we in the media are updated on what happens next, I’ll update you too.

No More Fans at TCF Bank Stadium, Period.

This wasn’t the only COVID-19 related announcement made by the University of Minnesota today. They also announced that their COVID protocols were tightening under Governor Walz’ new restrictions.

Coaches and players are no longer allowed to have family or friends attend games. Apparently, 250 people can’t properly social distance in a stadium meant for 50,000. What a world.

Family and friends of coaches and players will no longer be allowed to attend #Gophers football home games, due to Governor Walz' latest restrictions.

Less media too. What a joke. pic.twitter.com/gwV0vBza0V

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) November 23, 2020

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Adam Thielen has been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, per a statement by the Minnesota Vikings.

The #Vikings have placed WR Adam Thielen on Reserve/COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/b211f6fKGz

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) November 23, 2020

As the team clearly lays out in this statement, we do not have any information as to whether Thielen has entered COVID protocol as a “close contact” or if he himself has tested positive.

If any news on that front leaks out, we will have it here. Should we find out that Thielen is positive, he will miss Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. If he is considered a “close contact” case, then he will have the chance to play if he can test negative throughout the week.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Gophers are set to kickoff tonight against the Purdue Boilermakers at 6:30. Between injuries and COVID-19, we are now finding out they will be short 20 players when it happens. That’s not to mention multiple members on the coaching staff, including OL Coach Brian Callahan.

Source: Minnesota football will be without 20 players tonight against Purdue, as it continues to deal with COVID-19 and injuries. They will also be without multiple staff members, including OL coach Brian Callahan.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 20, 2020

We’re yet to find out who will be missing on the field, but will update this blog when those names start coming out (below). It’s important to remember the Big Ten’s 21-day absence policy if any player tests positive for COVID-19. A team doesn’t have to have one big outbreak to have 20 players sidelined.

For example: someone who hasn’t been positive for two weeks, has nothing to do with someone who just tested positive for the first time today. According to Big Ten policy, however, neither player can participate in games.

In a statement to media, the University of Minnesota has confirmed that three coaches, including Callahan, will not be available.

Minnesota’s Brian Callahan Will Not Coach Tonight

University of Minnesota offensive line coach Brian Callahan has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not coach tonight when Minnesota hosts Purdue.

Callahan tested positive during one of Minnesota’s daily antigen testing periods this week and his diagnosis was confirmed with a follow-up PCR test. Upon diagnosis, he immediately returned home and started his isolation process while working remotely.

Two additional members of Minnesota’s staff also tested positive for COVID-19 during the team’s daily antigen testing this week.

In Callahan’s absence, Minnesota’s Director of Player Development Norries Wilson will coach the offensive line tonight.

University of Minnesota Statement

Update:

Not dressed but on sidelines I've spied for the #Gophers: Benjamin St-Juste, Braelen Oliver, Ali Sad, Jimmy Buck, Itayvion Brown, Brevyn Spann-Ford, Curtis Dunlap Jr. Others from @jgkfan on the radio: Keonte Schad, Rashad Cheney Jr., Clay Geary, Michael Dixon, Treyson Potts.

— Megan Ryan (@theothermegryan) November 20, 2020

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

How did we get here? How did we get to a point where the Big Ten conference is so stubborn in its drive to link Myocarditis to COVID-19 in athletes, that the Minnesota Gophers football team lost both their kicker and punter before Saturday night’s loss to Michigan, because of it?

As sports leagues started returning to play throughout the coronavirus pandemic, fans and players got quickly acquainted to a standard 7-14 day quarantine period for any athlete who tested COVID-positive. That wasn’t enough for the Big Ten, though. No, the Big Ten needed a reason to be more woke than everyone else.

Enter Myocarditis

They found that reason, with Myocarditis… and the media jumped on it. First, they cancelled the fall football season because of Myocarditis claims (that have since been all but disproved). When they finally backtracked on their terrible decision to cancel football, subsequently announcing an 8-game conference-only fall season, it came with a 21-day mandatory sit-out period for any player who tested positive.

The league wanted more time for cardiac testing, they said.

Very happy we have Zack Annexstad healthy this season. #Gophers https://t.co/tyjkHVvFMK pic.twitter.com/t9EvMvGx6Z

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 16, 2020

Reminder, the Big Ten is THE ONLY major sports governing body that is requiring this ridiculous 21-day dismissal for any positive test. By requiring the additional time, they are telling every other major college and professional sports league, that the Big Ten is smarter than they are (and obviously more woke).

Fleck (Kind of) Tried to Warn Us

Fleck was warning media about these COVID-related absences all week but he didn’t tell us who would be out, or for how long. We didn’t know if it was due to personal opt-out decisions or if Gophers would be missing because of positive tests. It turned out to be both.

Minnesota lost the right side of their offensive line (Daniel Faalele/Curtis Dunlap) and a starting linebacker (Braelen Oliver) to what we think are opt-outs (PJ won’t confirm). But as gametime neared… the outlook vs Michigan worsened.

First, it was reported that Minnesota’s new Australian punter, Mark Crawford, was in street clothes during pregame warmups. Then, after warming up and reportedly kicking 40-yard bombs before the game… kicker, Michael Lantz, didn’t play either.

Why? Because COVID-19 protocol.

Since both guys were on the field before the game, we can only assume they were both healthy but held out because of positive tests older than 14 days, but younger than 21. If they had tested positive in the last two weeks, they’d still be quarantining, under Big Ten protocols.

While Fleck wouldn’t completely confirm this information in his postgame presser, he pretty much confirmed it… And, Chris Fowler mentioned it once on the ESPN telecast too. Here are both.

Here's PJ Fleck *not* telling us about losing his kickers and punters last night to COVID protocol. #Gophers pic.twitter.com/fLA7Qtof7p

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 25, 2020

Here you go. This is the reference. pic.twitter.com/afx1JhC0JE

— StreetHistory (Ryan S) (@streethistory) October 25, 2020

I’m not here blaming Big Ten COVID-19 protocols for why Minnesota lost to Michigan last night. The Wolverines completely dominated every facet of Saturday’s game and they deserved to win. The Gophers deserved to lose. I’ll have more written later tonight on what the Gophers need to fix. But, PJ Fleck and the Gopher coaching staff had to change the way they schemed this game, because they didn’t have any fucking kickers.

Are we in Europe? Do we play football with our feet now in the United States? How do we allow a situation, in American football, where a game might be decided (before it starts) because two healthy kickers aren’t allowed on the field? Put in a “ghost” defender for them on kick and punt returns, if you have to…

We wouldn’t want them to exert any physical energy that might won’t force hearts to shut down from a disease that might isn’t dangerous to this age-group..

Different Game with a Kicker and Punter

The fake punt at our own 30-yard line doesn’t happen if Mark Crawford is available and that’s something Fleck admitted to in his postgame press conference. Two Michigan touchdowns took a total of 37 yards, because of the aforementioned failed fake punt + a squib kick the Wolverines returned all the way to the Minnesota 8-yard line. The Gophers tried punting twice in the first half and those punts combined for 49 yards (18, 31). In total, Michigan started FOUR 1st half possessions inside Minnesota territory.

All of that can be blamed on not having competent kickers and punters.

Again, Michigan beats Minnesota last night, even without COVID protocol taking away everyone on their team whose job is to kick a football. The Wolverines didn’t need the extra help. They’re a much better team than I thought they were and that sentiment runs across the entire offense and defense.

Without Daniel Faalele and Curtis Dunlap to anchor the right side, the Gopher OL didn’t stand a chance vs Aiden Hutchinson and Kwity Paye. On defense, Minnesota was completely undermatched vs a Michigan running game that’s about to take the Big Ten by storm. Lead by QB Joe Milton, the Wolverines ran for 253 yards last night and made a new Minnesota defense look like a DII squad.

COVID Bullshit Needs Go Away

But that’s all part of the game. You win some and you lose some. Sometimes you play well and other times you play like shit. Even in 2020, we’ve become used to additional rules, restrictions and abnormalities consuming our life.

But I just can’t take the unnecessary COVID bullshit anymore. I’m all for saving lives but that’s not what the virus is being used for now. It’s no longer about a pandemic. Instead, we’ve been pulled into a woke pissing contest that has the most progressive of golden splatter landing on our Minnesota boots.

Governor Walz is allowing people to fill up the Mall of America but continues his ban on fans in stadiums. Nobody can answer as to why… but then again, no media will write stories to bring attention to it either so why would he.

Just got this text from my wife who’s at MOA. Luckily, malls don’t spread COVID like half-full stadiums definitely (probably) would.

Amirite @GovTimWalz? pic.twitter.com/vyZsgMCScZ

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 24, 2020

Now, the Big Ten is forcing the Minnesota to bench healthy players because they want to be the wokest conference in the land. Let’s just stop.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

The Minnesota Vikings are set to host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, at US Bank Stadium. Nothing is guaranteed in 2020 and that includes this football game BUT there’s no need to panic quite yet. A personnel member (non-player) tested positive for COVID-19 so, “out of an abundance of caution,” the Falcons have moved their Thursday activities to a virtual setting.

Falcons are working virtually today and released this announcement: pic.twitter.com/vHntMUcNQG

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 15, 2020

Update: An NFL official said just one member of the Falcons’ personnel had a positive test, and its not a player.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 15, 2020

No Need to Panic, Yet.

Early on, it’s evident the Atlanta Falcons are looking to move forward with their week ASAP. They seem hopeful this hasn’t been spread amongst players and any time we’re looking at one positive test, among hundreds of negatives, a false-reading is plausible too.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed and our eyes peeled, as we lead into Sunday, but the NFL has been adamant and flexible about getting games in, no matter when they need to be played. Remember, a Titans coach tested positive last Sunday and the team still went on with their game two days later.

So that’s one player and one personnel positive this week for Atlanta. Remember, the #Titans had a coach get a positive result Sunday, and still played Tuesday. The NFL evaluates these situations on a case by case basis. https://t.co/7KkAHApfgk

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 15, 2020

We’ll monitor the situation and let you know if anything changes, but as of 9:25a CT, Vikings/Falcons is still set to kickoff on Sunday at noon.

NOTE: Adam Schefter had originally reported FOUR positive tests out of the Atlanta facilities, at least one of which included a player. The NFL quickly corrected him, leaving us where we are now. Is it 2021 yet because humanity needs a break.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan