The salve for the Vikings, at the end of a 33-6 loss to the Broncos in Saturday's preseason opener, might be in the fact most of their core players watched the game from the sideline.
Coach Mike Zimmer opted to sit more than 30 players on Saturday afternoon, sparing his veterans from injury risk before a season when the Vikings seem intent on an about-face from last year's youth-centered roster.
But the Vikings will still need to fill out their squad with many of the backups that played Saturday, and a 17-game season means they'll likely have to count on some of them at one point or another.