EAGAN — Last year Kellen Mond had his rookie season derailed before it started by COVID. Just days into training camp, he got sick, missed a chunk of practices and lost weight. When he returned, he had a tough time catching up.
“I lost a lot of muscle and I was overcompensating and throwing slightly different ways and changing my form a little bit so I could create more power,” Mond told Purple Insider on Wednesday.
This offseason the Vikings’ 2021 third-round pick made it a goal to get his mechanics back on track.
“It was tough, I was playing at 214 at the start of training camp and then dropped down to 204 or 205, that 10 pounds of muscle can highly effect you,” Mond said. “I took some time off to try to unlearn some of those things and build off a new foundation and I’m doing really well right now. I’m really happy with the work I put in this offseason.”
After Mond went 28-for-51 passing in the preseason without a touchdown pass and averaged 6.1 yards per attempt, the Vikings brought back Sean Mannion to be Kirk Cousins’ backup. This offseason they re-signed Mannion and the it appears the two QBs will battle for the No. 2 gig this year. On Day 1 of practice they split second-team reps.
Mond also got on the wrong side of Mike Zimmer because of his vaccination status and the fact that Cousins missed practice because of a “close contact.” When Cousins was absent from a pivotal game against the Packers later in the season due to COVID, Zimmer chose Mannion to start and said that he did “not particularly” want to see Mond play. This year the NFL has lifted its protocols and the Vikings replaced their defensive-minded head coach with an ex-offensive coordinator who played his position.
“Kevin [O’Connell] playing quarterback, being a coach [that came from] a highly explosive offense, he has that quarterback mindset,” Mond said. “I think a lot of times coaches try to be a little too complex. He can run certain base plays 15 different ways and I think he wants to spread the ball around and find ways to create matchups. You can tell the way he gameplans and the way we’re able to talk to him that he’s got a lot of knowledge.”
Mond should get plenty of opportunities to impress his new coach. If O’Connell follows the ways of his Rams past, we won’t see much of the starters in preseason, leaving the door open for him to see lots of live reps.
“I’m excited,” Mond said. “I’m not really worried about [the QB] competition. In my mind, if I do what I need to do and go out and execute the way I can and the way I should, then I think everything will work itself out.”
