The Vikings had billed it as a warm welcome back, a return to U.S. Bank Stadium for fans who'd last trudged out to chants of "Go Pack Go" following a loss to Green Bay here on Dec. 23, 2019. And in some ways, the Vikings' first practice in front of fans at the stadium on Saturday felt like normal.
Vikings try to make U.S. Bank Stadium feel normal after a week that wasn't
What a week for the Vikings: a positive COVID-19 case, quarterbacks in quarantine, tense news conferences, a banished first-round draft pick and an injured star receiver.
August 8, 2021 at 5:43AM
The Skol chant was back in the building for the first time in 19 months. When D.J. Wonnum dropped into coverage and returned his interception of Jake Browning for a touchdown, "Let's Go Crazy" blared through the speakers.
Even though the league's COVID-19 protocols prevent players from signing autographs for fans this year, the spectators who dotted nine sections along the stadium's north sideline could still scream for Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, who jogged over to toss something to a young fan.
It had traces of normalcy for the Vikings, at the end of a week where little else did.
The previous Saturday, they'd learned three of their quarterbacks would have to enter quarantine after Kellen Mond tested positive for COVID-19, meaning Jake Browning, seemingly the team's only vaccinated QB, would throw every pass in a night practice at TCO Stadium in Eagan.
Minutes before co-owner Mark Wilf was scheduled to talk to reporters from the new five-star hotel on the team's campus Tuesday, a Dallas County grand jury in Texas indicted 2020 first-round pick Jeff Gladney on a felony family violence charge; the Vikings released him hours later.
Wilf admitted he was "very concerned" about COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Vikings players, who have the league's lowest vaccination rate as of this week. Coach Mike Zimmer offered two pointed critiques of his unvaccinated players in news conferences and said Tuesday on KFAN that quarterback Kirk Cousins "doesn't believe in" the league's COVID protocols. Cousins refuted the comment when he returned to practice on Thursday, saying he'd been a close contact of Mond's only because the Vikings put their quarterbacks in too small a meeting room.
The public comments have been matched by tense private exchanges, as decisionmakers fretted about the possibility unvaccinated stars could miss games and prominent players chafed at being called out in public.
And then on Friday, Jefferson walked off the field with his left arm hanging limply by his side, having injured his left shoulder while diving for a Cousins throw across the middle. The wide receiver didn't seem in much pain as he jogged lightly across the field at the end of Saturday's practice, and Thielen expressed relief the injury hadn't been worse, but both Jefferson and Thielen watched Saturday's practice, with first-round pick Christian Darrisaw still being held out, Dalvin Cook doing little and Anthony Barr absent for the second straight day.
The Vikings have not missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons under Zimmer, and began training camp confident they were set for a rebound after a months-long effort to add defensive experience this offseason. They'll practice against the Broncos twice this week before Saturday's preseason opener, and play the Colts at home on Aug. 21. Good showings there could allow them to scoff at perceived skepticism before finishing the preseason in Kansas City.
The Vikings' path back to the postseason, though, hinges on the following things:
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- Improvement on the offensive line.
- The durability of Cook through a 17-game season after a year when he touched the ball 356 times in 14 games.
- A commanding defensive front, with five players who weren't playing for the Vikings all or most of last year (Danielle Hunter, Michael Pierce, Dalvin Tomlinson, Sheldon Richardson and Barr) staying healthy and making significant contributions.
- Stability in the secondary, with Patrick Peterson re-emerging as a top cover corner at age 31; Bashaud Breeland handling the other side after offseason shoulder surgery; Cameron Dantzler and Mackensie Alexander playing major roles; Xavier Woods meshing with five-time Pro Bowler Harrison Smith at safety; and Smith being freed up to make plays all over the field at age 32.
- A new kicker — be it Greg Joseph, Riley Patterson or someone else — doing their job effectively.
- Good health, both in terms of injuries and players staying COVID-free.
- And a strong working relationship between Cousins and Zimmer, with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak in the middle of it all.
At the end of a frenzied week, there was an uncertainty around the 2021 Vikings as many players took the U.S. Bank Stadium field before fans for the first time. The session was not a scrimmage, but a normal practice — and a subdued one at that, with the team's top three skill position players and its first-round pick spectating and Barr nowhere to be found.
There's enough time for the Vikings to pull it together on several fronts, render all this talk meaningless and smirk at those who dared doubt them.
But for all the electrifying production elements they were able to reintroduce at U.S. Bank Stadium on Saturday, they couldn't quite gloss over the events of a week that presented these Vikings with deep questions.
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.
