Maybe The Quarterback Thing Is Already Decided

(Hat tip to the folks over at The Viking Age on this story.)

As we mentioned the other day, Minnesota Vikings' head coach Leslie Frazier has not yet said who his starting quarterback is going to be, but if the speculation of one of the local media folks is accurate, there may not even be a decision to make.

Reporter Judd Zulgad, who works the Vikings' beat (among other things) for 1500 ESPN in the Twin Cities, put the following on the Twitter about the Vikings' quarterback situation.

I'm guessing that with Christian Ponder having a fractured rib near his heart he will be out because of injury for three to four games.

— Judd Zulgad (@1500ESPNJudd) October 1, 2013

It's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that this is true. According to the folks from the Mayo Clinic, cracked ribs "heal on their own in one to two months." One would think that the very real possibility of getting smacked around numerous times by men weighing in the neighborhood of three hundred pounds would be counter-productive to the ribs "healing on their own." And if the rib is close enough to Ponder's heart to potentially do damage if the rib breaks completely. . .well, that's not really something to screw around with.

If Ponder is out for the next couple of weeks, at least it might lead to the end of some of the speculation that the injury is something that was done by the Vikings to "save face" or to "bench Ponder without actually benching him." If you're of that school of thought, seriously. . .this isn't Hollywood.

But if the speculation is true, it appears that we can pencil Matt Cassel in as the starter at quarterback for at least the next couple of games, and possibly beyond. Will he continue to be the "hot hand" for the Vikings? I hope so. . .as ardent a Ponder supporter as I've been (and I still believe the guy has a solid future in the NFL, whether it's in Minnesota or somewhere else), it would be nice if this season could be salvaged somehow, too.