Tag: Dan Bailey

Vikings K Dan Bailey talks about his recent performances

It’s been a tough month for Minnesota Vikings kicker Dan Bailey. He talked about his recent performances with reporters.

The Vikings re-signed kicker Dan Bailey in the offseason and there was a lot of reasoning to back that up at the time.

Bailey, historically one of the more accurate kickers in the NFL, was coming off a year where he made a little over 93% of his field goals.

Part of this Vikings season can be defined by certain negative turning points that resulted in Minnesota missing the postseason. Unfortunately for the Vikings and Bailey, the kicker was responsible for some of them.

Bailey, who was available to media for the first time since the Buccaneers game, talked about his tough month:

“It’s been frustrating,” Bailey said, via Mark Craig of the Star Tribune. “That’s probably the best word right now.”

Bailey missed four kicks against the Buccaneers. If Minnesota had won that game, its postseason chances would have gone up dramatically. Bailey talked about those missed kicks:

“It’s a performance-based business and obviously I did not perform, really at all — statistically — that day,” Bailey said, via Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune. “I don’t know that’s in my mind. I think it’s always one of those understood things: you’ve got to go out there and do your job and if you don’t do it to the standard that’s needed, there are plenty of other people out there on the street or on a practice squad somewhere that are chomping at the bit to get an opportunity.”

He is questionable on the Friday injury report for the Week 17 game. However, he seemed optimistic about playing against the Lions.

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

Vikings Friday injury report: Six out, one questionable

See the Minnesota Vikings’ Week 17 injury report before the team takes on he Detroit Lions.

Minnesota’s loss to New Orleans has left it without anything to play for in Week 17.

It remains to be seen what the Vikings will do with this meaningless game against the Lions. Minnesota has dealt with injuries, especially on defense, pretty much all year. This game is no different with key players unavailable on both sides of the ball.

The Vikings announced Wednesday that Dalvin Cook’s father, James Cook, has died. He was 46. Cook has gone home to Miami and will not play on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

There are some other big contributors who will be unavailable. Here is team’s injury report as of Friday:

Minnesota Vikings Week 17 injury designations: 4 defensive starters ruled OUT

The Detroit Lions (5-10) Week 17 opponent, the Minnesota Vikings (6-9), have released their injury designations ahead of Sunday’s game. 

The Detroit Lions (5-10) Week 17 opponent, the Minnesota Vikings (6-9), have released their injury designations ahead of Sunday’s game and they will be without several starters.

Here’s a look at the Vikings’ full injury designations list.

Injury designations

Player Position Injury Designation
Dalvin Cook RB (starter) Not-injury related OUT
Alexander Mattison RB Concussion Cleared to play
C.J. Ham FB Quad Cleared to play
Riley Reiff LT (starter) COVID-19 Reserve/COVID-19
Ifeadi Odenigbo DE (starter) Chest OUT
Jalyn Holmes DE (starter) Groin OUT
Armon Watts DT Ankle Cleared to play
Eric Kendricks LB (starter) Calf OUT
Troy Dye LB Concussion/Hamstring Cleared to play
Todd Davis LB Ribs Cleared to play
Cameron Dantzler CB (starter) Hamstring OUT
Chris Jones CB Groin OUT
Dan Bailey K (starter) Back Questionable

Cook’s father passed away on Tuesday and he has returned home to be with his family. He will not play in this weekend’s game. Cook’s absence means Mattison — who was just cleared from the league’s concussion protocol — will get the start at running back.

Rieff was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday, but the timeline for when he was identified is unclear. If he is not able to clear league protocols, the Vikings will turn to Rashod Hill at left tackle.

Odenigbo and Holmes were not the Vikings EDGE starters at the beginning of the year, but after Danielle Hunter went on I.R. and Yannick Ngakoue was traded, they were elevated into starting roles. With both ruled out, the Vikings will be on their third set of EDGE rushers for this matchup.

Kendricks is one of the best linebackers in the NFL and his absence will leave another massive hole in the Vikings front-7.

Last week, the Vikings starting three cornerbacks were: rookies Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler, along with Chris Jones — yes, former Lion Chris Jones. With Dantzler and Jones ruled out, the Vikings will start Gladney and likely Harrison Hand — yet another rookie corner.

Vikings Week 17 Thursday injury report: Seven DNP, four limited, one full

See the Minnesota Vikings injury report as of Thursday, leading up to the Week 17 matchup against the Detroit Lions.

The Vikings will be without some key players for the Week 17 game against the Lions.

It remains to be seen whether Minnesota will rest players against Detroit. Regardless, the Vikings will be without Dalvin Cook and Kyle Rudolph.

Rudolph was placed on IR. Cook’s father, James Cook, passed away this week. The Vikings running back is home in Miami and will be unavailable for the game, as reported by ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

There’s also Riley Reiff, who was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list this week. He might be able to go on Sunday, but as of now, there have been no announcements of him coming off of the list. Expect Rashod Hill to start if Reiff is unavailable.

Here is the injury report in full as of Thursday:

Vikings Wednesday injury report: Seven DNP, four limited

See the Minnesota Vikings’ injury report on Wednesday of Week 17, leading up to the team taking on the Detroit Lions this week.

In Week 15, the Vikings had a legitimate shot at the postseason, but if the team wanted to get there, they would have to persevere through injuries.

That did not happen. With LB Eric Kendricks, LB Anthony Barr, DE Danielle Hunter, DB Mike Hughes and others unavailable, Minnesota was dominated on defense by both Chicago and New Orleans. Those losses eliminated the Vikings from playoff contention and moved the team to 6-9 overall.

Now, the team has a pretty meaningless game against the Lions in Week 17. The Vikings are yet again dealing with key absences from practice leading up to the matchup.

Here is the Vikings’ initial injury report for Week 17:

Stock up, stock down from the Vikings’ loss to the Saints

See the stock up, stock down report from the Minnesota Vikings’ loss to the New Orleans Saints in Week 16.

Minnesota came into the two-game stretch against Chicago and New Orleans with plenty of promise.

If the Vikings won against the Bears, the team might not even have to beat the Saints to make the playoffs. Of course, that didn’t happen: Minnesota lost both games.

Now, at 6-9, the Vikings are looking for answers to what went wrong this year. Oftentimes, it’s not too hard to find them. The defense struggled in multiple phases of the game, the special teams were sloppy and the offense was inconsistent in the first half of the season.

Here is the stock up, stock down from the Saints game:

Stock up, stock down report from the Vikings’ loss to the Bears

See the stock up, stock down report from the Minnesota Vikings loss to the Chicago Bears.

Minnesota came into the matchup with Chicago as a playoff contender.

The Vikings ended up losing to the Bears and letting most of their playoff hopes slip away. Now that the postseason appears to be a long shot, the team will have to assess the players who are on the field for the Saints and Lions games.

Minnesota has to decide who to keep around, who to give a lesser role, who to give a bigger role, who to move on from and other key roster decisions the rest of the way.

Some of that comes down to seeing which players stood out against the Bears and who struggled. Here is the stock up, stock down report from the game:

Vikings sign kicker Taylor Bertolet to practice squad

The Minnesota Vikings have signed a kicker: Taylor Bertolet

Heading into the year, Minnesota retained one of the more accurate kickers in NFL history: Dan Bailey.

But recently, Bailey has not looked like a kicker even capable of being average. He missed three field goals and an extra point against the Buccaneers last game.

The game before that, he went 1-3 on extra points and missed a potential game-winning kick in regulation vs. the Jaguars. Though to be fair, he hit the game-winner in overtime.

With their kicker struggling, the Vikings have reported two tryouts this week with players at that position. Then, they ended up signing one of those players.

Minnesota announced that the team has signed kicker Taylor Bertolet to the practice squad. The Vikings also announced Saturday that CB Cordrea Tankersley has been elevated to the team’s active roster for the Bears game.

Behind Enemy Lines: 6 questions with Vikings Wire

Before Sunday’s game, we caught up with managing editor Jack White of Vikings Wire to get the scoop on the Bears’ Week 15 opponent.

The Chicago Bears visit the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, needing to win in order to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

A lot has changed since the last time these two teams met. In Week 10, Minnesota got the best of Chicago 19-13 as the Bears offense managed just six points. We’ll see if Chicago’s offense, which is averaging 30 points per game over the last three weeks, can find a way to keep their momentum going.

Before the game, we caught up with managing editor Jack White of Vikings Wire to get the scoop on the Bears’ Week 15 opponent.

Here are six questions with Vikings Wire:

5 reasons for optimism as Bears face the Vikings in Week 15

There are reasons to believe the Chicago Bears have an edge going into this game against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Chicago Bears are clinging to their slim playoff chances following a convincing 36-7 win over the Houston Texans in Week 14.

But Sunday’s divisional contest between the Bears and Minnesota Vikings will essentially serve as an elimination game for both teams that are looking to clinch a wild card spot.

Here are the reasons why the Bears could have an edge going into this game against the Vikings.