Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has done a heck of a job not making ripples off the field this season, despite roiling proverbial tidal waves on it.
While Darnold is just a first-year starter in Minnesota, the former No. 3 overall pick is a seven-year veteran of the NFL who has started games for four different franchises. As such, he’s no stranger to standing up at the microphone in front of swaths of media members and doing his best to either send subtle messages or simply say nothing at all — depending on what the situation calls for.
Darnold and the Vikings are 13-2 heading into their final home game of the season this Sunday, December 29, against the rival Green Bay Packers. Regardless of any other outcomes around the league, if Minnesota can best Green Bay this weekend, the Vikings will then play the Detroit Lions at Ford Field in Week 18 for the NFC North Division crown and a No. 1 playoff seed/bye week through Super Wildcard Weekend.
Considering the context, Darnold’s job when speaking with reporters Thursday was two-fold: first, don’t rile up the Packers in any way with bulletin board material. Secondly, say whatever he can to try and lull Green Bay’s defense to sleep.
Attendees at the press conference asked Darnold for his thoughts on the Packers defense, and the quarterback did his best to to accomplish both objectives in as few words as possible.
“They’re pretty much good everywhere,” he said.
Packers Secondary Heavily Banged Up Heading Into Vikings Matchup
While that respectful summation of Green Bay’s defensive unit may be true when the team is healthy, several important players across multiple levels of the defense are far from it with just three days remaining until a rivalry game of significant consequence.
Multiple-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander will “probably not” suit up for the Packers on Sunday, according to head coach Matt LaFleur.
That doesn’t bode well for a Packers secondary that Darold will seek to attack with star wide receiver tandem Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
“On top of Alexanders’ status, the fact that Keisean Nixon has been playing in the slot recently could force two backups — Carrington Valentine and Eric Stokes — into starting outside cornerback roles against the Minnesota Vikings,” Justis Mosqueda of Acme Packing Co. wrote Thursday.
Safeties Javon Bullard and Evan Williams are also battling injuries, with Bullard limited all week and Williams sidelined for every practice through Thursday, according to Green Bay’s injury report.
Quay Walker also sat out every practice this week, while fellow linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper missed Wednesday’s session and was limited Thursday.
Sam Darnold Has Been on Fire Over Vikings’ Past 6 Games
Green Bay’s secondary/defense has been elite at creating turnovers this season, with 15 interceptions recorded in 15 games. However, the group also ranks 20th with 3,434 yards surrendered through the air across that span.
Darnold has been gettable — to a degree — when it comes to turnovers, with 11 interceptions on the season. However, he has also thrown for 3,776 yards and 32 TDs while completing more than 67% of his pass attempts along the way.
The quarterback has also thrown just 1 INT in the past six games, all of them wins for the Vikings. His mastery of head coach Kevin O’Connell’s system has been such since a 3-INT game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on November 3 that it is difficult to see such a banged up Packers offense give Darnold a truly hard time in a must-win game on his home field.
