Predictably, Kirk Cousins has tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss the Minnesota Vikings’ game against the Green Bay Packers.
Cousins is among the most well-known NFL players to not get vaccinated; another of those, Carson Wentz, landed on the reserve/Covid-19 list earlier this week. There’s a possibility he’ll be able to play against the Raiders this weekend thanks to the NFL amending its rules to require asymptomatic players sit out only 5 days instead of 10.
Cousins won’t be so lucky. The Vikings, sitting at 7-8, stood a decent chance of jumping the Eagles for the No. 7 playoff spot by winning out. Now they’re left to try to win at Lambeau Field with Sean Mannion at QB.
Sean Mannion has thrown 74 passes in the NFL — and only 24 since the 2017 season.
Good luck with that.
What’s left to say about any of this, at this point? The current coronavirus vaccines don’t block all infection, and may be less adept at doing so with the omicron variant, but they help. And Cousins opted out.
There is nothing more predictable than Kirk Cousins testing positive before having one last chance to save the jobs of the people dumb enough to have signed him.
— Jim Souhan (@SouhanStrib) December 31, 2021
Cousins has long been bad at making decisions under pressure, so it’s not hard to see how he got this one wrong.
Except for this: This wasn’t a difficult decision. There’s nothing confusing about it. Kirk Cousins didn’t need to quickly sort through information, or deal with a heavy blitz, or do anything arduous at all. He could have simply gotten a vaccine that has been administered billions of times (with hardly any major side effects) to give his body extra defense against a virus that has now killed around 5.5 million people world wide.
His justification for not doing so has been non-existent. He’s called it a private health matter and had the audacity to say that he’s thought about surrounding himself in plexiglass because he’s “going to do whatever it takes.”
Kirk Cousins, who refuses to get vaccinated, says he’s willing to sit inside a plexiglass structure at work to avoid getting infected with Covid pic.twitter.com/ywZlo4SaXH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 6, 2021
Here’s the impact the vaccines have had in Minnesota:
Meanwhile his coach, Mike Zimmer, has spent much of the season being frustrated at his players who were unwilling to get vaccinated and went so far as to bring experts in to talk to the team:
Monday, Dr. Michael Osterholm (Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at University of Minnesota) spoke with the Minnesota #Vikings to discuss COVID-19 vaccines. Today, Vikings QB Kirk Cousins called the meeting "informative." pic.twitter.com/3xG56g7S2d
— Nᴏʀᴍᴀɴ Sᴇᴀᴡʀɪɢʜᴛ III. (@SeawrightSays) August 25, 2021
Now the Vikings are on the outside of the playoffs despite showing a penchant for sticking in games and Zimmer could be on the hot seat.
But it’s not like Minnesota can start a rebuild. The Vikings are likely stuck with Cousins.
Kirk Cousins has a $45 million cap hit in 2022, and it would take $45 million in dead cap to release him. https://t.co/Hdafr8Op5h
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) December 31, 2021
What a pointless and ridiculous mess.
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