Vikings kicker Dan Bailey refuses to blame back injury for his misses lately

Dan Bailey said the back injury that has him listed as questionable for Sunday's season finale in Detroit is new this week and was not something he was dealing with while missing eight kicks over the past four weeks.

"Unfortunately, I've had a couple issues over my career with the back," he said Friday. "It can kind of pop up. From my experience, it can be pretty debilitating. It's challenging, because you feel almost kind of like a wimp. It just comes out of nowhere, and it really kind of locks you down."

After sitting out practice Wednesday and Thursday, Bailey was limited Friday and is hopeful he'll be able to kick Sunday.

If not, coach Mike Zimmer said practice squad kicker Taylor Bertolet "has made all his kicks" in practice and would be ready to make his NFL debut Sunday.

For Bailey, a strong finish on certainly would help his future since, as Zimmer put it, Sunday is the start of his evaluations for the 2021 season.

"It's been frustrating," Bailey said of missing four field-goal attempts and four PAT tries the past month. "That's probably the best word right now."

The low point was missing all four kicks, including three field-goal attempts, in the loss to Tampa Bay.

"I can easily say I've never had a day like that in my career," Bailey said. "I've had some bad games here and there, but that one's definitely top of the list now, unfortunately."

Bailey said he was encouraged by making all five kicks the following week against the Bears. But that was followed by a missed PAT in the Christmas Day loss to the Saints.

Bailey appeared on the injury report Wednesday for the first time this season. He was asked if he's sure his back didn't contribute to his misses.

"Unfortunately, no," he said. "And that's where the frustration is. It's just kind of a bad timing thing, coming off the tail end of all that. It's been an interesting four weeks or whatever it's been.

"I feel like I should be able to go this weekend. I had a good workload [Friday], and I felt good doing that. The best I can do is put all that stuff behind me."

An already-decimated defense has another new face who's been sidelined.

After 15 starts this season, defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo was ruled out because of a chest injury.

Meanwhile, rookie cornerback Cameron Dantzler (hamstring) will miss his fifth game of the season because of injuries. He started 10 games this season and had been healthy enough to play in the past six games.

Also ruled out were cornerback Chris Jones (groin), defensive end Jalyn Holmes (groin), linebacker Eric Kendricks (calf) and running back Dalvin Cook, who has been in Florida since the death of his father earlier this week.

Zimmer might have tipped his hand about left tackle Riley Reiff's chances of being removed from the reserve-COVID-19 list before Sunday's game.

"I texted him when he got sick, and he said, 'Just go win the game,'" Zimmer said. "That's the kind of guy he is. He's a pro's pro."

Players are put on the reserve-COVID-19 list for either testing positive or being in close contact with someone who did. The latter allows for a quicker return to action. If Reiff did in fact test positive this week, he would have to miss Sunday's game.

Zimmer said, "I don't know" when asked if Reiff would play. If Reiff doesn't play, Rashod Hill will get his first start of the season.