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Vikings Rest Pat Williams

Dec 28, 2009 – 7:15 PM
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Michael David Smith

Michael David Smith %BloggerTitle%

Pat WilliamsThe Minnesota Vikings have decided to have their enormous defensive tackle Pat Williams sit his ample backside on the bench for Monday night's game against the Chicago Bears.

Williams is inactive and will miss tonight's game in Chicago. Jimmy Kennedy will replace Williams in the starting lineup.

The news that the larger half of the Williams Wall is sitting out is a bit of a surprise: Williams had been listed as questionable with an elbow injury and was limited in practice last week, but the indications out of Minnesota were that the Vikings expected him to play.

That they've now decided to sit him down indicates that the Vikings are in the early stages of the "rest for the playoffs" mode. Although Minnesota still has a chance of catching New Orleans and earning home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, the Vikings are going to be cautious with injured starters in the final weeks of the regular season. And that means exercising caution with key players like Williams, who will get the night off even though he would probably be healthy enough to go if this were a playoff game.
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