Vikings fans better hope Kirk Cousins doesn’t get injured or traded away

Kirk Cousins’ backup Kellen Mond was terrible in the Minnesota Vikings’ last preseason game.

Minnesota Vikings fans better hope Kirk Cousins stays healthy, as Kellen Mond looked awful in his latest preseason game for them.

While Cousins did not play, Mond only completed 50 percent of his throws on 10-of-20 passing for 82 yards and two picks in Minnesota’s second preseason loss. Third-stringer Sean Mannion was slightly better by completing 67 percent of his throws on 10-of-15 passing for 65 yards. The Vikings dropped to 0-2 in the preseason after falling to the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, 17-7.

Mond crumbled under pressure and threw a horrendous pick early in the game on a third-and-8.

Minnesota Vikings: The drop-off from Kirk Cousins to Kellen Mond is massive

For those Vikings fans who want the team to move on from Cousins yesterday, be careful what you wish for. Although the franchise has had its issues with quarterback stability for most of its history, Mond does not look even remotely close to being able to start regular-season games. Mannion has had his number called a few times, but the results have been far from great.

As long as Cousins plays and is healthy, the Vikings have a top-12 quarterback under center. More importantly, he already has some familiarity with the offense new head coach Kevin O’Connell wants to run from their days of working together previously in Washington. The good news is that for the most part, Cousins has remained healthy throughout his NFL career out of Michigan State.

When it comes to Mond, it is better that he throws this pick to the 49ers defense in a meaningless exhibition versus in a game that actually counts. While he still has upside as an NFL quarterback, keep in mind that it took until year four at Texas A&M during a COVID season for him to truly pop under Jimbo Fisher. Mond is still worth investing time in, but he certainly has a long way to go for them.

Hopefully, he can learn from this interception, but man, did it look terrible on the TV broadcast.