Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) throws during the NFL football team’s training camp, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Eagan, Minn. Quarterback Nate Stanley (14) looks on.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins (8) throws during the NFL football team’s training camp, Friday, Aug. 6 2021, in Eagan, Minn.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson throws during an NFL football practice, Monday, Aug. 9, 2021 in Owings Mills, Md.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, right, greets Trace McSorley during an NFL football practice, Monday, Aug. 9, 2021 in Owings Mills, Md.
Bryson Dechambeau hits on the fourth hole during the final round in the World Golf Championship-FedEx St. Jude Invitational tournament, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn.
This isn’t a betting column, though there does appear to be an opportunity to make a few bucks in the NFL market. That would be in Minnesota, where quarterback Kirk Cousins seems intent on sabotaging any chance the Vikings can match the win total of nine games set by oddsmakers going into the season.
That Cousins is not vaccinated and has no plans to get vaccinated should be troubling enough for Viking fans. Already sidelined for a few crucial practice days, he’s one positive test away from potentially ruining a season that, by all accounts, looked playoff worthy.
The same is true in Baltimore, where quarterback Lamar Jackson — who missed a game last year after testing positive for COVID-19 — missed the opening of training camp after testing positive yet again. Amazingly enough, Jackson said he is still on the fence about getting vaccinated.
“I just got off the COVID list, so I’ve got to talk to my team doctors and try to see how they feel about it,” he said Monday.
No need for that because the team doctors will all say the same thing: Get the vaccine. And most players are, with the NFL reporting last week that 90 percent of players have had at least one vaccine shot.
The decisions by players crucial to the success of both teams are as disturbing as they are perplexing. In Minnesota, it has already cost Cousins an endorsement with a hospital, which couldn’t very well have him promoting health care when refusing to do the one thing necessary to keep himself and those around him healthy.
