Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer wasn’t going to make it through a meeting with reporters without at least addressing the elephant in the room—that being his snarky response to a question regarding rookie quarterback Kellen Mond on Sunday.
When asked if he wanted to get a look at Mond in the regular season finale against the Chicago Bears, Zimmer casually responded, “Not particularly.”
He then doubled down on that statement by saying, “I see him every day.”
On Monday, the topic was brought up again by reporters with Zimmer’s response being the primary talking point. This time, however, he went into further detail about Mond’s development and why he said what he said.
“I just meant [Mond] is the third-team quarterback,” said Zimmer. “I mean, he’s improved. He’s improved throughout the year. He’s got a chance to be a good player, but he’s third on the depth chart. So I kind of knew that. …You guys ask me those questions 10 minutes after the game, too. So that’s part of it as well.”
The comments came after the Vikings suffered a disappointing 37-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers, which essentially eliminated them from playoff contention.
Zimmer gave no indication that he’d give Mond playing time in the team’s last game of the season. So it’ll be Sean Mannion back under center for a second straight week or possibly even Kirk Cousins, assuming he comes off the reserve/COVID-19 list in time.
By all accounts, it’ll be business as usual for the Vikings.