Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings reacts after a touchdown in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium on November 21, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ((Photo by David Berding/Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Vikings are in San Francisco to take on the 49ers Sunday in a game with NFC Playoff implications for both teams, and the Vikings are looking for their third straight win.
If Minnesota gets the win Sunday, it will have to be done without the entire regular starting defensive line. The Vikings are without Michael Pierce, Dalvin Tomlinson, Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen for Sunday’s game. Pierce is on injured reserve with a bad elbow, Tomlinson is on the reserve/COVID-19 list and Hunter is out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle.
Griffen is the latest absence. He was placed in the reserve/non-football illness list as he addresses concerns for his mental health after an incident with law enforcement on Wednesday at his Minnetrista home. He posted a video to Instagram, which was later deleted, holding a gun and saying somebody was in his home trying to kill him.
Griffen eventually came out of his residence without incident, and is at a health care facility receiving treatment. He’ll miss at least the next three games.
The Vikings inactives Sunday include Kellen Mond, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Harrison Hand, Chazz Surratt, Cam Bynum and Wyatt Davis.
Both the Vikings and 49ers enter Saturday’s game on two-game win streaks, at 5-5 on the season and in the thick of the NFC Playoff conversation with seven games to play. The Vikings will be looking for another big game from Kirk Cousins, who threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 34-31 win over the Green Bay Packers. For the season, Cousins has 2,775 yards passing, 21 touchdowns and just two interceptions.