Football is back.
The Vikings get their preseason schedule underway tonight in Cincinnati as they square off against the Bengals at 6:30 p.m. (CT) at Paul Brown Stadium.
The exhibition contests might not mean anything in the standings, but there is plenty of value in preseason. Besides serving as a warm up for the regular season for veteran players, preseason games also give Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman and Head Coach Mike Zimmer an evaluation of young players and rookies in real-time and on film.
Tonight’s game will undoubtedly be special for Zimmer, who was Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator from 2008-2013.