No one is saying Minnesota Vikings first-round rookie Garrett Bradbury has a problem with preparation. Perspiration, on the other hand...
Bradbury has drawn the ire of starting quarterback Kirk Cousins in camp, not for sloppy snaps, but for soaked shorts.
For the second time in as many weeks, Cousins complained to the press Wednesday about Bradbury's sweaty, sweaty shins.
"It's the whole thing," Cousins said, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "I look at his shins and it's just like pouring. It looks like my window after a rainstorm. Then I look at my shins. It's just genetic, I guess. I don't know."
More from the 30-year-old professional man on the physiological habits of a 24-year-old rookie body: "He promises that it's not a problem in games. It remains to be seen because his shorts today were soaked. He says it's not a problem on game days, so the moment of truth will come then. That's a big thing I'm going to take away. Just how tough it was to grip the ball after he snaps it to me."
Bradbury had little to add on the matter, responding, "We are out here working. I don't really know how to answer that."
Bradbury's unforgiving glands have apparently been on Cousins' mind for a good week-plus now. On the July 31 edition of Inside Training Camp Live, he mused on NFL Network that Bradbury was a "heavy sweater" and he had asked the equipment staff to bring out extra shorts for the soggy center.
Cousins has cited the summer heat in Eagan, Minnesota, which can reach into the 90s, for the surplus sweat. So it will be interesting to see, as we follow this storyline with great interest for the next few weeks and months, how Bradbury and his pores react in climate-controlled environments like U.S. Bank Stadium or the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the location of Minnesota's preseason opener on Friday night.
Will Bradbury sweat then? Will the ball slip out of Cousins' hands? Will the receivers complain? Will a rookie center's moist mittens keep Minnesota out of the playoffs for the second straight season?
All this and more at 11.
