DAILY CLIPS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 LOCAL NEWS: Friday, September 11, 2020 Star Tribune Kirk Cousins delivers stability, but can he deliver Vikings a championship? By Ben Goessling https://www.startribune.com/with-new-contract-kirk-cousins-still-has-more-to-prove/572376612/ Rapid QB evolution — more Lamars and Deshauns, fewer Kirks and Toms — will define this NFL season By Jim Souhan https://www.startribune.com/rapid-qb-evolution-more-lamars-and-deshauns-fewer-kirks-and-toms-will-define-this-nfl- season/572378252/ Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman hopeful Danielle Hunter's stay on injured reserve is minimum three weeks By Andrew Krammer https://www.startribune.com/spielman-hopeful-hunter-s-stay-on-ir-is-minimum-three-weeks/572375902/ Vikings coach Mike Zimmer lacks usual info about Packers going into Sunday's game By Sid Hartman https://www.startribune.com/vikings-coach-mike-zimmer-lacks-usual-info-about-packers-going-into-sunday-s- game/572377302/ Pioneer Press Vikings remain coy about rookie K.J. Osborn’s role as return man By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2020/09/10/vikings-remain-coy-about-rookie-k-j-osborns-role-as-return-man/ Vikings still discussing plan for national anthem this weekend By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2020/09/10/vikings-still-discussing-plan-for-national-anthem-this-weekend/ Who steps up for the Vikings with Danielle Hunter out? By Dane Mizutani https://www.twincities.com/2020/09/10/who-steps-up-for-the-vikings-with-danielle-hunter-out/ The Athletic Ten bold (and not so bold) predictions for the 2020 Vikings season By Chad Graff https://theathletic.com/2056063/2020/09/10/ten-bold-and-not-so-bold-predictions-for-the-2020-vikings-season/ SKOR North Danielle Hunter’s injury creates opportunity; Yannick Ngakoue working overtime to learn Vikings’ system By: Judd Zulgad https://www.skornorth.com/2020/09/danielle-hunters-injury-creates-opportunity-yannick-ngakoue-working-overtime- to-learn-vikings-system/ Purple Insider How will the Vikings deal with Danielle Hunter's absence? By Matthew Coller https://purpleinsider.substack.com/p/how-will-the-vikings-deal-with-danielle NATIONAL NEWS: Friday, September 11, 2020 NFL.com Dalvin Cook will be 'out there' against Packers despite no new deal By Kevin Patra https://www.nfl.com/news/dalvin-cook-will-be-out-there-vikings-packers-despite-no-new-deal Associated Press For visit by Packers, Vikings present crowd-free, revamped D By Dave Campbell https://apnews.com/87a39cc369295eb8ab49adb82f57cc28 Maven Media With No Danielle Hunter, the Spotlight is on Yannick Ngakoue in Week 1 By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/danielle-hunter-spotlight-yannick-ngakoue-week-1-packers MULTIMEDIA NEWS: Friday, September 11, 2020 Schrager: I See Rodgers Having His Way Against The Vikings By NFLN https://www.vikings.com/video/schrager-i-see-rodgers-having-his-way-against-the-vikings Vikings Prepare for Packers Without Hunter By KARE http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=75232093-712f-4181-a01a-a3f6a6a1a7a1 Vikings Near Game Ready By WCCO http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=55065414-062c-4b76-9887-a694dbe291e2 Vikings Get Ready to Host Packers By KMSP http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=70eaee38-ff16-4000-954c-96eb192545e7 Fanless Football By KSTP http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=8a28671c-6f53-4bb9-b4a4-7199be623839 VIKINGS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK NEWS: Friday, September 11, 2020 NFL Expert Picks: Split Opinions on Vikings-Packers in Week 1 By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/packers-nfl-expert-picks-week-1 Vikings Believe Team Approach Can Help Replace Hunter vs. Packers By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/vikings-believe-team-approach-can-help-replace-hunter-vs-packers Kyle Rudolph Ready to Extend Starts Streak to 82 By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/kyle-rudolph-2020-season-ready-to-extend-starts-streak-to-82 Lunchbreak: Barnwell Outlines Paths to Super Bowl LV for Vikings & Others By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-barnwell-outlines-paths-to-super-bowl-lv-for-vikings-others A Hand-Picked Division: Vikings Placement Beat the Odds By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/packers-vikings-placement-beat-the-odds PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 9/11/20 Kirk Cousins delivers stability, but can he deliver Vikings a championship? By Ben Goessling Kirk Cousins’ birthday falls on Aug. 19, arriving as a signpost each year in the middle of the NFL preseason to mark the continuation of a career that once seemed fated to end long before the quarterback reached his 30s. He turned 32 this year, on the day the Vikings practiced in pads for only the third time since their NFC divisional playoff loss to San Francisco in January. Cousins spent the day throwing passes to rookie receiver Justin Jefferson, whose brother Jordan (older by eight years) worked out with Cousins at the 2012 NFL combine after playing quarterback at LSU. “I said, ‘Well, how old were you when Jordan was the quarterback at LSU?’ ” Cousins recalled. “[Justin] was like, ‘Eight or nine years old.’ That made me feel a little old. … But it’s an honor. I’ve always said, if there’s one place you feel good getting old, it’d be pro football, because the NFL does stand for Not For Long.” The coronavirus pandemic has scrambled the NFL schedule, jarring the routines of a sport steeped in mechanistic precision and leading stable organizations to be regarded as havens. Spielman hopeful Hunter's stay on IR is minimum three weeks Spielman hopeful Hunter's stay on IR is minimum three weeks During an interview with SiriusXM radio, Vikings GM Rick Spielman said the team will have to "reassess" Danielle Hunter's injury to know how soon he can actually return. The Vikings doubled down this offseason on the structure they’ve built in recent years, with co-owner Mark Wilf citing a “body of work,” as much as any postseason success, as the club’s reason for extending the contracts of General Manager Rick Spielman and coach Mike Zimmer through 2023. The Vikings also wasted little time in offering Gary Kubiak the chance to return to play-calling duties, opting for continuity after offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski became the Browns’ head coach in January. Cousins is, as much as any player in the Vikings organization, the on-field personification of their approach, heading into his ninth season as a quarterback who crowbarred his way into the NFL’s loftiest tax bracket through preparedness, perseverance and an ability to keep things on track. He is a former fourth-round pick, playing for a coach who has found a home after being turned down for multiple head coaching jobs and a GM who spent six years with the team before getting full control of the roster. The Vikings’ men in power got there the same way Cousins did; no one will call his attributes flashy, but they’ve delivered him the stability he craves in an organization that values it just as much. “Last season, I found myself saying, ‘I don’t want to move. I don’t want to leave,’ ” Cousins said. “You find yourself saying, ‘Hey, it’s a lot easier to play if it’s with the Minnesota Vikings. It’s a lot easier to talk about playing into my late 30s if it’s assumed I’m going to be here. Part of what makes that thought enjoyable is thinking that it would be in purple and gold.” After the most efficient statistical season of his career and leading the Vikings to an NFC wild-card playoff win, Cousins got what he’d hoped for on March 16: a three-year, $96 million contract. It came with a $30 million signing bonus, two more years of guaranteed salaries and a 2022 base salary of $35 million that becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2021 league year. The move caused wide receiver Stefon Diggs to go public with his long-simmering frustration, tweeting, “It’s time for a new beginning” hours after Cousins finalized his deal. But it had long been clear the Vikings liked the structure they had built around their quarterback; the extension only made it official. Perhaps at no point in his NFL career has Cousins been as solidified in his life as he is now, with a team that hasn’t equivocated in its commitment to him, an offense built to his liking, a cul-de-sac house in Inver Grove Heights near friendly neighbors and a church with locations minutes from home. He is as much the face of the Vikings offense now as he has ever been, after his overtime throws to Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph against the Saints diminished some of the national media chatter about his ability to win big games. He works with a group of pass-catchers reconfigured in Diggs’ absence, with first-round pick Justin Jefferson and 2019 second-rounder Irv Smith Jr. expected to grow into larger roles. The Vikings’ fortunes, to a great extent, are in his hands. “Kirk is a critical part of our team and he’s a leader in our locker room, and his play has really demonstrated warranting that kind of move,” co-owner Mark Wilf said of Cousins’ contract extension earlier this week. “On all fronts we were very supportive. As we saw last year, we saw him step up and take steps in an already successful career. Again, our coaches and personnel folks have that confidence in him, and we do as well.” A paradoxical year At this time last year, when Cousins looked back on his 2018 season in an interview with the Star Tribune, he called it the best of his career, given what he was asked to do in an offense that threw 606 times while posting the third- worst run game in the league.