Vikings Resting Several 'Key' Starters
By Michael Luciano
The Minnesota Vikings know they're going to the playoffs and are locked into the No. 6 seed in the NFC. With that in mind, they aren't going to put their best players in harm's way in Week 17.
According to Ian Rapoport, Minnesota will rest all of their "key" starters ahead of their Week 17 matchup in order to avoid injury as they prepare for another playoff run.
One note for Sunday: The #Vikings are planning to rest their key starters and the #Texans won’t take any chances, either. Expect both to have several starters on the sidelines even if they aren’t inactive. Smart with little or nothing to play for.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 29, 2019
Rapoport didn't go into any detail about which starters will not play in their final game of the season against the Chicago Bears, but you can assume that injured running back Dalvin Cook, wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, and quarterback Kirk Cousins will be among those not suiting up.
Expect to see the likes of backup quarterback Sean Mannion against the Bears now that the Vikings have a playoff spot as the No. 6 seed locked up.
Vikings won’t win in playoffs without Dalvin Cook. With Dalvin Cook, they have a chance. If it’s a day game.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) December 24, 2019
As much as Cousins struggles in primetime, this team is dead in the water in the postseason if he were to go down with injury. Mike Zimmer took the cautious approach, and he shouldn't get one ounce of criticism.