Sean Mannion's Vikings return is a Kellen Mond cautionary tale

The Vikings offense didn't produce a touchdown until the second half of their final preseason game, a 10-quarter drought to which starter Kirk Cousins contributed but understudies Kellen Mond and Jake Browning particularly fueled.

I made the incorrect assumption that when the Vikings cut Browning earlier this week, it meant they had at least seen enough from Mond to roll with him as the backup.

Silly me. This is Year 8 of the Mike Zimmer regime, and we (I) should know better.

About the only thing Zimmer loves more than a ball control offense and stout defense combo is a familiar face that he believes he can trust.

Hello again, Sean Mannion.

It sounds like the Vikings nearly broke the phone speed dialing Mannion after he was cut by Seattle. After a whirlwind day, he arrived on the Vikings' practice squad, a spot from which he can still serve as a gameday No. 2 QB.

His presence at practice Thursday means he is vaccinated, as we discussed on Thursday's Access Vikings podcast — another point in his favor inside a QB room that trends the other way.

If you don't see the podcast player, tap here to listen.

Mannion, who served as Cousins' backup in 2019 and 2020, joins Sheldon Richardson, Everson Griffen, Mackensie Alexander and Stephen Weatherly in rejoining the Vikings in 2021.

He also, as I noted on the podcast, serves as cautionary tale about Mond in two different ways:

*As excited as a lot of people were when Mond was picked in the third round of the draft, expecting him to be ready to contribute this soon was probably not realistic. If you had wild-eyed visions of an immediate Cousins trade, for instance, training camp and the preseason has showed how bonkers that would have been.

While Mond's long-term future still might be bright, in the short-term there's not enough trust built up in a must-win season.

*Even though spending a third-round pick on a QB suggests an investment, they don't typically pan out. For evidence, look no further than ... Mannion himself.

Mannion was the No. 89 overall pick in the third round in 2015. He's made exactly one career start — subbing for Cousins in the 2019 finale when the Vikings were locked into their playoff position. There's nothing wrong with carving out a career as a backup, but in the case of Mannion and most others drafted in the third round (or lower), the voyage from prospect to journeyman is swift.

In the Vikings' best-case scenario, of course, Mannion is never needed because Cousins stays healthy and on the field (as he has done each of the last six years).

But it is telling that the team's new "break glass in case of emergency" plan involves an old face instead of a new one.