The Minnesota Vikings came away with a Week 3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to move to 3-0, but some players are feeling a little light in their bank accounts.
On Oct. 3, the NFL announced its Week 3 fines, with Josh Metellus and Dallas Turner on the list. Of the two, Metellus received the larger fine for a fourth-quarter play at the 10:49 mark for unnecessary roughness after he used his helmet.
As a result, Metellus received a $23,882 fine from the league. Meanwhile, Turner’s fine came from a first-quarter play at the 7:14 mark for unnecessary roughness after he grabbed an opposing player’s facemask.
Because of that play, the NFL is fining Turner $11,941. Moreover, the Vikings weren’t the only ones fined in this game, as Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving received a fine for a chop block in the third quarter at the 4:28 mark. As a result, the league fined him $6,988.
Kevin O’Connell on Plan Without Justin Jefferson in Week 4
The Vikings will be playing another Florida-based team as they welcome the Miami Dolphins in Week 4. However, Minnesota will be without wideout Justin Jefferson because of an ankle injury that the player suffered in the win over Tampa Bay.
On Oct. 2, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell shared how he prepared his receivers as they look to replace the production lost with Jefferson’s injury.
“We’re going to call personnel groupings to get certain guys in the spots we want,” O’Connell told reporters. “We’ve been able to practice it. It was some guys, including some of our young guys who have been here, like a Tai Felton or a Myles Price.
“It was their first time going through it a little bit, as well as Jauan [Jennings] being out there and being asked to do a little bit more than just maybe the position he’s gotten the reps at throughout the week of a game plan. So across the board, I think everybody will be much more comfortable and I’m excited to see those guys play after the week of prep we just got out of those guys.”
Vikings Have Faith in Kyler Murray Amid Concerns
Despite getting the win over the Buccaneers, there were concerns over how the Minnesota offense looked. Nonetheless, even with outside worries, that’s not how the team feels in the locker room.
Amid the concerns about how Murray and the Vikings offense looked against Tampa Bay, Dallas Turner has faith in the former No. 1 pick to lead them.
“I’ll just say, Kyler is definitely a very, very athletic quarterback,” Turner said during a Sept. 30 appearance on “Good Morning Football.” “I kind of saw it during camp when I was trying to get a move around, and then you still have to tap off or try to just get near Kyler. This is doggone impossible, if you ask me, during practice.
“But definitely an athletic quarterback. You can tell he’s a leader on the offensive side of the ball, and a lot of guys on the offensive side and on the defensive side trust him a lot.”
NFL Announces Punishment for Two Vikings Players After Week 3 Win