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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kellen Mond may not have been given a fair shake his rookie season.
The 2021 third-round pick out of Texas A&M was inactive for 15 of the Vikings’ 17 games last season and was on the receiving end of some crass criticism from recently fired head coach Mike Zimmer.
Mond’s father recently spoke out on Zimmer’s “venom” toward his son, saying the former coaching staff didn’t give Mond any consideration last season.
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‘Kellen Was in the Dog House’
Rumors surrounding Zimmer’s indifference to Mond became concrete after the surly head coach spurned Mond after a reporter asked if Mond would start in a meaningless season finale following a demoralizing loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 16.
Mond replaced Sean Mannion for a series in the loss to the Packers, while Kirk Cousins was inactive due to COVID-19. Mond threw three incompletions; one of which was nearly intercepted in his first career appearance in the regular season.
Zimmer gave a crass critique of Mond, which he later doubled back on.
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“I just mean he’s the third-team quarterback,” Zimmer said then, per the Pioneer Press. “He’s improved. He’s improved throughout the year. He’s got a chance to be a good player. But he’s third on the depth chart, so we kind of knew that.”
However, Zimmer was never fond of Mond.
Last July, Mond tested positive for COVID-19, creating a domino effect of placements on the COVID-19 reserve list in the quarterbacks room, including Cousins and Nate Stanley. Zimmer had harped that his players get vaccinated ahead of the season.
However, Mond may have been simply caught in the crossfire between Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman from the day he was drafted.
“Kevin Mond [Kellen’s father] said Zimmer never was keen on then-general manager Rick Spielman selecting Mond in the draft, saying, ‘I think he wanted a defensive player (with the second pick in the third round),’ ” Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press wrote.
“Kellen was in the doghouse from the start because of the draft and then, number two, the COVID. So he was in Zimmer’s doghouse and wasn’t getting out,” Kevin added. “They weren’t going to give him the time and Zimmer not playing him at the end of the year was, personally to me, Zimmer just sticking his thumb at Spielman.”
Zimmer’s feelings toward Kellen were generally indifferent throughout his first year. When Kellen was told of Zimmer’s comments after the Packers game, he said, “One, he’s never really talked to me personally, so I didn’t really take too much offense to it.”
“He kind of backtracked on his word a little bit after. But it’s all fun and games, whatever. It’s a new year, new coaches, new team. I’m a year older, second year in the NFL,” Kellen told Tomasson.
Kevin also expressed that he felt Zimmer’s treatment toward Kellen wasn’t personal.
“Zimmer wasn’t mad at the person, he was mad at the selection of the quarterback,” Kevin added. “So whoever was going to get his venom thrown at him, it just happened to be Kellen.”
Kellen Never Recovered From COVID-19
After Mond tested positive for COVID-19 last summer, he lost roughly 10 pounds throughout the quarantine period — weight which he didn’t have the chance to put back on during the season.
“Last year, I kind of got hurt when I got COVID and lost a bunch of muscle, so a lot of ability and power and strength,” Kellen told Tomasson. “I kind of had to detour a little bit. … I was down to like 204, 205 (pounds) and lost a lot of muscle, so it definitely set me back.”
Kellen, 22, said he weighed about 215 pounds before contracting COVID.
“It was hard to recover during the season just because I wasn’t lifting (weights),” he said. “You can’t really lift and pump iron during the season. So I didn’t get that really back until this season. So right now, I’m about 212, 213. I’ll probably play at 216.”
Healthy and working with a new coaching staff, Kellen called the difference between his first and second years so far “night and day” — an encouraging sign for the Aggies’ all-time leader in passing touchdowns (71), passing yards (9,661) and total offense (11,269).
“Where he is now, he’s in a good frame of mind,” Kevin said. “He has a good relationship with everybody there. He loves the new coaching staff, he’s getting the playbook down. He’s grasping it very well. He’s in good spirits.”
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