Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was blunt in calling for COVID-19 vaccinations Saturday after the team announced before the evening practice at TCO Stadium in Eagan, Minn., that multiple players would be held out due to COVID-19 protocols.
Zimmer said he couldn’t talk about any specific players who were in the COVID-19 protocols, but said he was “frustrated” and “that’s why people should get vaccinated.” Regarding players, Zimmer was only asked specifically about second-year undrafted free agent quarterback Jake Browning and his chances to win the backup quarterback job behind Kirk Cousins.
“(Jake’s) out there,” Zimmer said. “He’s available, that’s important. It’s important to be available in a team sport. Jake’s really smart. He’s vaccinated, that helps to be the backup.”
“This Delta variant is tough. You can see the cases going up every single day now. That’s why, for the sake of everybody’s health, I think it’s important. But some people don’t understand, I guess. After everything we went through last year, I’m not surprised one bit. I am disappointed that this happened. I’m frustrated, not just with my football players who didn’t get vaccinated, but I’m frustrated with everybody [who didn’t]. We’ll just do the best we can. It’s just disappointing.”
In July, the NFL sent out a memo saying that teams could be forced to forfeit games due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Multiple games were postponed last season due to the pandemic. Teams were also forced to play with limited personnel due to outbreaks and contact tracing. Last season, the Broncos played a game without any of their quarterbacks after all four were placed in COVID-19 protocols. They lost 31-3 to the Saints with wide receiver Kendall Hinton primarily playing quarterback.
(Photo: Nick Wosika / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
