The Vikings are booked for the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs whether they win, lose or tie their game against the Bears on Sunday and it appears they will be taking the cautious approach with several starters as a result.
Courtney Cronin of ESPN reports that the team is expected to sit Kirk Cousins for the game. Sean Mannion would make the second start of his career. His first came under similar circumstances for the Rams in Week 17 of the 2017 season.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said earlier this week that he hadn’t made any call, but the fact that Minnesota’s locked into its spot makes it unsurprising that they’d opt to focus on planning for the postseason.
Cronin doesn’t name any other names, but one imagines that running back Dalvin Cook, linebacker Eric Kendricks and any other player with an injury concern would be on the bench to rest up ahead of the team’s road trip in the Wild Card round.