The second preseason game for the Vikings had Jacksonville visiting US Bank stadium, after a week with two joint practices between the teams. Based on the play of the game, one thing the Jaguars didn’t show during the practice sessions was any kind of screen game, because it was the only thing that seemed to work for them … and it was like the Vikings had never seen such black sorcery before.
In all, a low-scoring game with far too much input from the referee and his crew that neither team can really be proud of. Disturbingly, there were several injuries for the Vikings — especially along the already suspect offensive line, where four of the five projected starters weren’t in the game. Judd Zulgad confirms that quarterback Kirk Cousins and the first team offence still have a lot of work to do to be ready for the regular season:
Kirk Cousins and the Vikings’ first-team offense could not have looked better than they did in the preseason opener last week in Denver. Cousins connected on all four of his pass attempts for 42 yards, completing his only series with a 1-yard touchdown strike to Stefon Diggs.
That was exactly what the Vikings wanted to see from their $84 million quarterback.
Cousins’ second preseason go-around, which came Saturday in his home debut at U.S. Bank Stadium, wasn’t nearly as smooth. After having some struggles in a couple of joint practices against Jacksonville this week, Cousins and Co., put on a sloppy performance in a 14-10 loss the Jaguars.
“I think he can play a lot better,” coach Mike Zimmer said when asked about Cousins.
Cousins completed only 3-of-8 passes for 12 yards in a four-series outing that extended into the second quarter and also saw the Vikings go 0-for-3 on third down en route to a dreadful 0-for-12 performance overall. The Vikings have two exhibition games before the Sept. 9 regular-season opener against San Francisco. Considering starters almost never play in the preseason finale, Cousins really only has one game in which to get work.
That means Zimmer and first-year offensive coordinator John DeFilippo are going to want to see far more from the first-team on Friday when the Vikings play host to Seattle.
Christopher Gates reports on the sloppy, injury-filled, overly penalized game for the Daily Norseman:
The game featured 20 penalties, with 13 of them being called on Jacksonville for 140 yards. the Vikings were penalized seven times for 60 yards.
The big story for the Vikings is that it appears that they’ve lost three players for the season with serious leg injuries. Rookie defensive end Ade Aruna appeared to suffer a serious right knee injury in the first half that resulted in him being carted off the field. After that, reserve offensive lineman Cedrick Lang was also carted off with an air cast on his right leg in the fourth quarter. Reserve fullback Johnny Stanton also needed to be carted off the field late in the fourth quarter as well. When we have updates on those injuries, we will bring them to you.
The Vikings fall to 1-1 on the preseason, and will host the Seattle Seahawks in the All-Important Third Preseason Game™ on Friday night at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Jaguars raise their preseason mark to 1-1, and will host the Atlanta Falcons next Saturday in Jacksonville.
We’ll have plenty of discussion of this game over the next day or two, ladies and gentlemen, but sufficient to say that the Minnesota Vikings did not look nearly as impressive in their second preseason game as they did in their first one. They fall to the Jacksonville Jaguars by a final score of 14-10, and now have some injury issues to deal with.
