Vikings Offense Sputters on Cold Night at Lambeau

A career backup making his third start, second with Minnesota and first since Dec. 29, 2019, said he felt prepared despite not being able to attend practice Wednesday or Thursday. Mannion, who is vaccinated, said he had taken multiple precautions.

“Physically, I feel great. I feel great,” Mannion said after the game. “I started to feel a little bit sick and then I talked to [Vikings Vice President of Sports Medicine Eric Sugarman] and that’s obviously how I ended up on the COVID list, which was a surprise to me because I’m just kind of to and from work; I don’t really go anywhere or do anything.

“I felt totally prepared. That’s the job,” Mannion added. “Seven years of my career now, you spend every single day preparing like you’re the starter. I know sometimes it gets thrown around as a cliché, but I’ve truly taken that approach. I’m trying to do whatever I can to be prepared mentally, physically, finding extra time after practice to get extra work. I absolutely felt prepared.”

He and the Vikings had the makings of a crisp drive to start the game while trying to answer a field goal by the Packers.

The Vikings opened with a 12-yard gain to Tyler Conklin on a bootleg before two carries by Cook gained 3 apiece. On third-and-4 from the Green Bay 48, what appeared to be a 24-yard gain to a wide-open Conklin was wiped off when officials ruled rookie left tackle Christian Darrisaw had drifted too far down the field before the pass was thrown.

“I think stuff like that hurts, especially because I feel like stuff like that has seemed to happen to us at bad times throughout the year a little bit,” Conklin said. “You can’t make mistakes like that, especially on third down. But at the end of the day, it’s the first drive of the game, and we have to be able to overcome something that happens on the first drive of the game and not let it affect us for the whole game. It was a tough break, but it’s not an excuse for anything.”