DAILY CLIPS SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2020 LOCAL NEWS: Sunday, January 5, 2020 Star Tribune NFL quarterback club: Chosen few, like Vikings' Kirk Cousins, can relate to weekly pressures By Ben Goessling http://www.startribune.com/nfl-quarterback-club-chosen-few-like-vikings-kirk-cousins-can-relate-to-weekly- pressures/566723152/ Stakes are high Sunday for the Vikings — and we're not just talking playoffs By Jim Souhan http://www.startribune.com/stakes-are-high-sunday-for-the-vikings-and-we-re-not-just-talking- playoffs/566725652/ Vikings pass defense faces tough test in Saints By Sid Hartman http://www.startribune.com/vikings-pass-defense-faces-tough-test-in-saints/566722882/ Players to watch in Sunday's Vikings-Saints wild-card game By Chris Miller http://www.startribune.com/players-to-watch-in-sunday-s-vikings-saints-wild-card-game/566723102/ The Call: Vikings vs. Saints By Ben Goessling http://www.startribune.com/the-call-vikings-vs-saints/566723092/ Pioneer Press Vikings’ Kevin Stefanski to interview with Panthers as well as Browns By Chris Tomasson https://www.twincities.com/2020/01/04/vikings-kevin-stefanski-to-interview-with-panthers-as-well-as- browns/ Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo fined $10,257 by NFL By Chris Tomasson https://www.twincities.com/2020/01/04/vikings-safety-andrew-sendejo-fined-10257-by-nfl/ Vikings crank up the volume to prepare for raucous Superdome By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2020/01/04/vikings-crank-up-the-volume-to-prepare-for-raucous-superdome/ Key Vikings rookies made their preseason debuts in New Orleans and return when it really counts By Chris Tomasson https://www.twincities.com/2020/01/04/key-vikings-rookies-made-their-preseason-debuts-in-new-orleans- and-return-when-it-really-counts/ Vikings vs. Saints picks: Predicting a tough one in New Orleans By John Shipley https://www.twincities.com/2020/01/04/vikings-vs-saints-charley-walters-predicts-tough-one-in-new- orleans/ Vikings at Saints playoff preview: Vikings to face pass-happy Saints with depleted secondary By Chris Tomasson https://www.twincities.com/2020/01/04/vikings-to-face-pass-happy-saints-with-depleted-secondary/ SKOR North Would a win in New Orleans change everything? By Matthew Coller https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2020/01/would-a-win-change-everything/ Report: Vikings offensive coordinator to interview with Browns, Panthers By Judd Zulgad https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2020/01/report-vikings-offensive-coordinator-to-interview-with- browns-panthers/ The Athletic Vikings playoff preview: Keys to victory vs. Saints, reasons to hope and picks By Chad Graff, Arif Hasan and Jon Krawczynski https://theathletic.com/1508924/2020/01/04/vikings-playoff-preview-keys-to-victory-vs-saints-reasons-to- hope-and-picks/ NATIONAL NEWS: Sunday, January 5, 2020 ESPN Saints bring high-powered offense against Vikings in NFC wild-card game By ESPN Staff https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28411416/new-orleans-saints-bring-high-powered-offense-vs- minnesota-vikings-nfc-wild-card-game Sports Illustrated Kirk Cousins’ Chance to Do Something, Like, Big? Maybe? By Gary Gramling https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/01/05/wildcard-weekend-sunday-preview-breakdown-analysis-coaching- carousel NFL.com Browns, Panthers to interview Kevin Stefanski for HC By Andie Hagemann http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001094222/article/browns-panthers-to-interview-kevin-stefanski- for-hc Maven Media Three Reasons to Believe in the Vikings Against the Saints By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/three-reasons-to-believe-vikings-against-saints MULTIMEDIA NEWS: Sunday, January 5, 2020 Warner Explains How Brees Will Look To Attack Vikings Defense By NFL Network https://www.vikings.com/video/warner-explains-how-brees-will-look-to-attack-vikings-defense Cook to Pelissero: "We're Going To Get This Thing Rolling Again" By NFL Network https://www.vikings.com/video/cook-to-pelissero-we-re-going-to-get-this-thing-rolling-again PA, Bercich Look Ahead To Vikings-Saints By Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/pa-bercich-look-ahead-to-vikings-saints Mike Maxx Previews Vikings-Saints from Bourbon Street By WCCO http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=e7f01449-e8e7-4202-b6b2-29bf70630e6d Dawn Mitchell Reports from New Orleans By KMSP http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=883490a2-7bfe-499d-9ca9-3e154c929020 Vikings Heavy Underdogs in Wild Card Round By KARE http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=9d50acce-69c6-4c10-ab3c-4c65ce8b24a1 Vikings-Saints Playoff Preview By KSTP http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=344af7c1-f321-4b21-88ad-715a470ea73b VIKINGS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK: Sunday, January 5, 2020 Final Thoughts: Vikings Pass Defense Crucial to Combat Brees-Thomas Connection By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/final-thoughts-vikings-saints-defense-crucial-combat-brees-thomas- connection Vikings Offensive Rookies Come Full Circle from Preseason to Playoffs By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/vikings-offensive-rookies-come-full-circle-from-preseason-to-playoffs PUBLICATION: STAR TRIBUNE DATE: 1/5/20 NFL quarterback club: Chosen few, like Vikings' Kirk Cousins, can relate to weekly pressures By Ben Goessling Beneath the layers of the National Football League’s indomitable entertainment machine — the cameras trained on Kirk Cousins’ every move, the media members parsing each decision, and a cohort of 73,000 fans, most of them actively invested in his failure — there will be exactly three people on the Superdome field Sunday who understand the quarterback’s unique burden. There will be Drew Brees, the future Hall of Famer and a Super Bowl MVP who has offered Cousins insights from his own journey through the occasional phone call and Pro Bowl conversation. There will be Teddy Bridgewater, who four years ago came within inches of his own defining playoff moment for the franchise that now employs Cousins. And there will be Cousins himself, keenly aware of all that has been entrusted to him by a team and a fan base so hungry for success. “The ball’s in your hand, and the margin for error is so small,” Cousins said. “You know that nobody else is going to have a chance to impact the game in the same way you will. You know that you’re going to go back and watch the film the next day, win or lose, and point to two plays that made the difference. You don’t know which two it’s going to be; you’re going to get anywhere from 60 to 80 cracks at it, and you know when you hold the football, you hold the hopes and dreams of a lot of people in your hands.” Cousins’ second NFL playoff start, in which the Vikings are 7 ½-point underdogs against a 13-3 Saints team that’s lost one home playoff game in 13 years, doubles as an inflection point for the quarterback’s time in Minnesota, where he is finishing the second season of a three-year, $84 million contract guaranteed to him in hopes he can help deliver the Vikings their long-sought first Super Bowl victory. When the playoffs began, there were 11 other quarterbacks in 11 other cities — including six on contracts worth at least $23 million a year, and four former first-round picks still on their rookie deals — expected to justify costly investments with exacting precision under withering pressure. Their salaries afford them little public sympathy; this is their chosen profession, after all. But their jobs, as glamorous as they seem, still require them to operate on a precipice. “What’s the fraternity like? You may shake the guy’s hand after the game, wish him well,” Cousins said. “You may cross paths with him at a conference or two in the offseason. But without saying a word, there’s just an unspoken understanding of what they’re going through, and I would like to think vice versa. So I always try to, when I see a guy, encourage, because I think if they’re anything like me, it can be a grind at times.” Cousins and a growing group of NFL quarterbacks have bonded through an online devotional group led by pastor Randy Alcorn, who is based in Portland, Ore., and started working with Christian ministry Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO) after getting to know former NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck while he spoke at a Seahawks team chapel service. Hasselbeck, now an analyst on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown,” invited Alcorn to speak to a group of quarterbacks at PAO’s annual February conference for NFL players, and the online community grew out of that. Currently 27 quarterbacks, including 18 active ones, can read the weekly devotionals Alcorn sends the group; Cousins, Alcorn said, is routinely the first to respond. “You view them as human beings,” Alcorn said. “You think in terms of what they do, because that’s part of who they are and the life that they live. But spiritual counsel is the same for anybody. You take into account their family situation, their job situation and everything else, as you would anyone else. But of course, those things are different for them.” ‘What we deal with’ PAO — now run by former Bears quarterback Steve Stenstrom — moves its annual conference to different destinations, from warm-weather getaway spots to mountain retreats, and keeps the location a secret to give players a respite from their celebrity. Pastors from around the country come in to advise players on issues like relationships, finances and handling pressure. Last February, former Vikings quarterback Case Keenum and his wife, Kimberly, shared their struggles with infertility (a month before Kimberly became pregnant with their first son).