EAGAN, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on Aug. 6, 2021.
The Vikings effort to turn around a jumbled season just got more difficult, at least temporarily, with the announcement that center Garrett Bradbury has been placed on the NFL COVID list and will miss Sunday's game against Baltimore.
Bradbury, a third-year player out of North Carolina State, has quickly become the anchor of the Vikings offensive line. He played 97% of the available snaps as a rookie, every single snap of the 2020-21 season and all 508 of the current season.
Vikings.com says Bradbury was vaccinated against the virus in the spring. He will miss a game for the first time in his career.
Mason Cole, who started 32 games for the Arizona Cardinals between 2018 and 2020, has been listed as Bradbury's backup after arriving in Minnesota via an offseason trade.
To take Bradbury's place on the active roster Minnesota promoted tight end Luke Stocker from the practice squad. Stocker, an 11-year NFL veteran, spent time in Tampa, Tennessee and Atlanta before joining the Vikings.
The struggling Vikings are 3-4 after losing a high-profile Sunday night game to Dallas and a second-string quarterback. Baltimore is the first challenge in what appears to be an extremely tough four-game stretch for the Purple.
Bradbury is the sixth Viking placed on the COVID list this season, along with defensive backs Harrison Hand and Cam Dantzler, and quarterbacks Kirk Cousins, Kellen Mond and Nate Stanley.