Vikings place guard Oli Udoh on COVID-19 reserve list
Dec. 27—The Vikings on Monday placed starting guard Oli Udoh on the COVID-19 reserve list. A source said he is fully vaccinated.
Udoh started at right guard in Sunday's 30-23 loss to the Los Angeles Rams after Mason Cole was put on injured reserve Friday with an elbow injury. Udoh started the first 11 games of the season at right guard, moved to left tackle for two games and was benched for one game prior to Sunday.
After testing positive, Udoh needs two negative tests 24 hours apart in order to return to the roster before 10 days. If Udoh is out Sunday at Green Bay, Dakota Dozier, who started all 16 games at right guard last season, likely would take his spot. The Vikings also have Wyatt Davis, a rookie guard from Ohio State taken in the third round of the 2021 draft, but he has not played a snap from scrimmage all season.
Udoh struggled against the Rams and star defensive tackle Aaron Donald. According to Pro Football Focus, Udoh's grade of 46.8 in the game was the lowest of any Minnesota offensive player with 10 or more snaps.
Udoh becomes the fourth player on Minnesota's COVID list, joining running back Dalvin Cook, backup quarterback Sean Mannion and reserve tackle Rashod Hill. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Monday he is hopeful of Cook, who is unvaccinated and was placed on the list last Thursday, returning to face the Packers.
With Mannion on list, Zimmer said the Vikings will change things with the quarterback room. Starter Kirk Cousins is unvaccinated. Rookie and third-stringer Kellen Mond was on the COVID list for 10 days in training camp, and said when he returned that he was unvaccinated.
"We are taking some more safety measures this week," Zimmer said. "We don't want those guys in the same room together, so we're going to try and spread them apart."
With Mannion out, Mond was active Sunday for the first time in his career but did not play.
"(Mond) keeps improving," Zimmer said. "He comes out here and works hard every single day."
