Vikings: Kellen Mond does not take Mike Zimmer’s criticism well

Kellen Mond made his NFL debut on Saturday, and he did not take head coach Mike Zimmer’s criticism too well.

The root of the COVID-19 problem the Minnesota Vikings had in their quarterback room came when rookie Kellen Mond tested positive, and Kirk Cousins’ expectedly tone-deaf didn’t help. Since he only returned to practice last Tuesday, head coach Mike Zimmer deemed it unrealistic for Mond to play in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Denver Broncos.

After Mond played six drives against the Broncos, as one of only two quarterbacks who played for the Vikings (Jake Browning started). Zimmer denied he said any such thing hinting Mond would not play.

In any case Mond completed six of 16 passes for 53 yards in the game, along with 25 rushing yards on five carries. Not great, but not entirely awful with such little practice time under his belt and it being his first NFL game action.

Kellen Mond did not take kindly to Mike Zimmer’s criticism

After the game, Zimmer called Mond a “kind of a laid-back guy” who needs to be more vocal.

Mond responded, seemingly with a level of confusion mixed with dismissal of the criticism.

Along with kicker, quarterback is the position Zimmer hates the most. As a defensive guy, that’s easy to assume and it continues to show. He has also been clear with his views on being vaccinated against COVID-19–only in the name of being able to operate as close to normal as possible to have the best chance to win games.

In Cousins and Mond, Zimmer has two quarterbacks who aren’t going anywhere this year who are not vaccinated and clearly don’t plan to ever be. It was Mond’s positive test that triggered the COVID-19 issue ahead of a Saturday night practice, and left Browning as the only available quarterback for the session when Cousins and Nate Stanley were deemed high-risk close contacts. The NFL’s protocols demanded Mond miss as much time as he did as an unvaccinated player.

Mond should not get into a back-and-forth with his head coach through the media. Zimmer’s candidness can be appreciated, but he also has to know the right places to levy his criticism. A rookie quarterback after the preseason opener is not one of those places, as frustrated as he is about the whole situation with the Vikings right now.