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The Minnesota Vikings notched their third straight win by defeating the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. However, they may have lost Kirk Cousins in the process.
Cousins hobbled off the field with an apparent leg injury during Sunday’s 24-10 victory. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said the quarterback suffered an Achilles injury.
The quarterback’s season will be over if an MRI confirms the initial diagnosis.
#Vikings QB Kirk Cousins suffered an Achilles injury based on the initial examination, per coach Kevin O’Connell.
Cousins will undergo an MRI, but the diagnosis on Achilles is rarely wrong. It appears his season is over. pic.twitter.com/Xw3chV3tqC
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 29, 2023
Cousins has missed just two games since the start of 2015. He last sat out of a game because of COVID-19 protocols in 2021.
If Cousins suffered an Achilles injury, his season would end with 2,331 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and five interceptions.
Cousins was in the midst of another superb outing. Fresh off leading the Vikings to an upset over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football, he had completed 23 of 31 passes for 274 yards and two touchdowns at Green Bay.
Backup quarterback Nick Mullens is on the injured reserve with a back injury, so rookie Jaren Hall served as Cousins’ understudy in Week 8. The fifth-round pick completed three of four passes for 23 yards in his NFL debut.
Speculation ran rampant over whether the Vikings would trade Cousins after an 0-3 start. The 35-year-old seemed to squash that question by turning their season around, but the injury likely dampens any dreams of Minnesota climbing back into the playoff picture.
A season-ending injury could instead mark an unceremonious end to his Vikings career. Cousins is a free agent after the 2023 season.