THE RAIDERS COACH HAS MADE A SHOCKING ANNOUNCEMENT TO.
Wes Phillips, the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings, was taken into custody by police two days prior to his team’s pivotal Week 14 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.
On Friday, December 8, authorities detained Phillips and accused him of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, who cited records from the Hennepin County Jail for his report. According to Minnesota state law, driving while intoxicated (DWI) is a misdemeanor.
In a statement following Phillips’ arrest on Saturday, the Vikings said the coach will still travel with the team to Sunday’s game in Las Vegas.
According to ESPN, the Vikings stated that after his arrest last night, “Wes immediately notified the team.” “We spoke with the NFL this morning, and following internal deliberation, we decided that Wes would accompany the team to Las Vegas this afternoon. We’ll keep collecting details about the incident and provide more commentary when it’s appropriate.
After a bye week, Minnesota (6-6) has dropped its last two games and is still fighting for a postseason spot in the NFC Wild Card standings.
The Vikings are trying to get their offense back on track after scoring a total of 30 points in the previous two games, so they don’t need any more distractions in the form of Phillips’ arrest.
In addition to head coach Kevin O’Connell, Phillips is a key player in the attempt to turn around starting quarterback Josh Dobbs, who threw four interceptions in his previous outing against the Chicago Bears. Leaving the question of who would start open-ended going into the bye week, O’Connell decided to stick with Dobbs against the Raiders.
Dobbs might, however, be limited given his recent turnover issues and how they have negatively impacted Minnesota’s chances of making the playoffs.
On December 6, O’Connell informed members of the media that Nick Mullens would be prepared to go. We’ll get Nick ready the same way we always do. and everyone on our team is aware that they can rely on Nick in times of need.
The rookie Jaren Hall, who has recovered from the concussion protocol and is fit enough to play if needed, was also mentioned by the head coach.
“I think we have three quarterbacks we can win football games with, whether it’s Nick or Jaren,” O’Connell continued.
The Vikings were positioned to make the playoffs a few weeks ago. Even though a lot has changed since then, the team still has a strong chance of playing until the end of January.
