The Minnesota Vikings are one of the most surprising teams in the NFL through two weeks. Vikings fans everywhere were crushed when rookie QB J.J. McCarthy was ruled out for the year with a meniscus injury. That thrust backup Sam Darnold into the limelight where he as surprisingly been excellent.
Darnold talked about his experiences in Minnesota and how his mindset has caused him to succeed with the Vikings through two games.
“I’ve learned a lot,” Darnold said per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “I’ve had experiences where bad things have happened. And I think the more you play football, the more you understand you can’t control everything out there and things are going to happen in the game.”
The Vikings know that better than almost any team in the NFL. Minnesota had a rough offseason that featured plenty of roster turnover as well as some tragedy off the field. It is good to have a QB who can roll with the punches when they come in.
“But you’ve got to understand that you’ve got to put your head down and continue to work and continue to grind throughout these games,” Darnold continued. “Because at the end of the day, it’s not about what happened in the past or on the previous play, but it’s about the next one.”
This is the perfect attitude for someone like Darnold to have, especially because it meshes with where the Vikings are as a franchise.
Perhaps Darnold to the Vikings was simply a match made in heaven.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson squashes injury concerns with three-word statement
Darnold’s job has been made much easier by throwing to superstar Justin Jefferson.
Jefferson has been dealing with a quad injury, which led to some uncertainty this week about whether he’ll be active against the Texans in Week 3.
Jefferson gave a brief and fiery response that should have Vikings fans pumped up.
“Asked Justin Jefferson if he’s playing Sunday vs. Texans,” Seifert said. “‘Yeah, for sure [Jefferson said].’ Says his quad feels ‘great’ and he’s working daily with medical staff to make sure it feels ‘fantastic’ by Sunday.”
Jefferson was limited in practice on Thursday but does seem to be trending toward playing in a crucial game against the Texans.
“Jefferson maintained his activity level from Wednesday’s session as he tends to the bruised right quadriceps that he picked up late in the third quarter of this past Sunday’s win against the 49ers,” the outlet reported. “Both the wide receiver and coach Kevin O’Connell have expressed optimism in the meantime that the injury isn’t serious, but Jefferson now has just one more session this week to prove his health ahead the weekend. In the end, Jefferson appears destined to have a designation for Sunday’s game versus the Texans.”
Vikings fans will be thrilled to have their best player on the field is Jefferson really is active against the Texans on Sunday.
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