Minnesota Vikings star defensive end Everson Griffen missed Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills with what was being described as a knee injury. There wasn’t much more to the reports prior to kickoff in Minneapolis. It was a surprising turn of events given that he had played 69-of-77 snaps the week before against Green Bay.
We’re now hearing more information regarding Griffen, and the backstory here is not good. According to KSTP in Minnesota, Griffen was involved in an incident Saturday afternoon at a local hotel in which he allegedly threatened to shoot someone.
“According to police records, a person at Hotel Ivy was verbally threatening to shoot someone in the middle of the day on Saturday,” the reported read. “The Minneapolis Police Department redacted that person’s name from the report, but a source confirmed that it was indeed Griffen named in the report.”
The Vikings themselves have since released a statement indicating that they’re concerned about the incident in question and worried about what is being considered a serious personal health-related issue.
#Vikings DE Everson Griffen has been dealing for weeks with a serious, personal health-related issue, per sources. The team and his agents are helping him. A statement from GM Rick Spielman: pic.twitter.com/vfd3Vn8Yok
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 25, 2018
Police had originally redacted that person’s name from their report, but it’s now known to be Griffen.
“Police dispatch audio archived online includes a dispatcher saying that the suspect said to the staff that if someone wouldn’t let him in his room that he was going to shoot someone. Police said no gun was ever seen,” the report continued. “At one point, the report said the caller stated that Griffen threatened to assault staff members and was laying on the lobby floor.”
We’re not sure what set Griffen off. Though, this is certainly a serious off-field issue for the three-time Pro Bowler.
Griffen, 29, was recently signed to a four-year, $58 million extension back in July of 2017. He proceeded to record a career-high 13 sacks for the Vikings last season.