Vikings rookie Mata'afa suffers season-ending knee injury. ........
MINNEAPOLIS—Vikings undrafted rookie defensive end Hercules Mata'afa suffered a torn ACL on Wednesday when he was injured without contact on a kickoff in a practice during organized team activities.
He will be placed on injured reserve and miss the entire season.
Mata'afa's agent, Kenny Zuckerman, said Mata'afa was very distraught after suffering the injury, but that he felt better later in the day.
He took to Instagram and wrote that he will "make the Skol nation proud in the near future!''
"He called me crying (after suffering the injury),'' Zuckerman said.
"I think he just thought (at first), 'Oh, now they're going to send me on a plane home tomorrow.' ... But I talked to Rick (Spielman, the general manager) and I talked to George (Paton, the assistant general manager). They really like him and they plan to keep him there in the building (during rehab) and he'll get ready for next season.''
As far as ACL tears go, Zuckerman said Mata'afa's was much less severe than many.
"It's a bad injury, but it's the best of the worse,'' Zuckerman said. "I mean, it's still an ACL tear, but he'll come back sooner than 90 percent of most ACLs.''
Zuckerman said Vikings medical officials are waiting for the swelling to go down and details for surgery have not yet been established. Mata'afa, a defensive lineman at Washington State, was expected to be drafted in April.
When he wasn't, the Vikings quickly offered him a free-agent deal.
Mata'afa was initially looked at as a linebacker. He was moved last week to defensive end.
"I think he was on his way to being on the roster,'' Zuckerman said. "Everybody I talked to (on the Vikings) said he's just been a real pleasant surprise. I think they were shocked by his quickness and short-area burst.''
Spielman declined comment on Mata'afa's injury. Mata'afa was unavailable for comment, but addressed his injury on Instagram.
"I'm really happy with the support of (the) Vikings at this moment,'' he wrote. "They made my day when it started off dark and cold. I'm glad free agency and God brought me here! Thanks to everyone else as well for the kind words. I will make the Skol nation proud in the near future!''
Spielman lauds Cousins' leadership:
Spielman had plenty of praise Wednesday for quarterback Kirk Cousins, who signed a fully guaranteed three-year, $84 million contract in March.
"He's a phenomenal leader,'' Spielman said at a Vikings charity golf event. "The players have really gravitated to him. The one thing I know, we haven't been able to stabilize the quarterback position, whether it would be my fault, I missed on a guy, or we had some significant injuries. ... Hopefully, this will solidify ourselves.''
Spielman missed on Christian Ponder with the No. 12 pick in the 2011 draft. The Vikings had injury issues with Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford.
Spielman joked about Cousins agreeing to come to Minnesota.