After Being Taken To Mental Health Facility, Everson Griffen Placed On Reserve List
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Minnesota Vikings placed Everson Griffen on reserve Friday following an incident earlier this week where police and mental health professionals responded to his home.
The 33-year-old will not play in Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers. However, it's unclear how long he'll be absent from the team. Coach Mike Zimmer has not given an update on Griffen's immediate future other than to say that the top priority is Griffen's health and resources for his family.
Early Wednesday morning, Griffen posted a concerning video on his Instagram account. The video showed him with a gun saying that someone was trying to kill him in his Minnetrista home. He told officials that he fired a single shot and that no one was hurt. The Instagram video has since been taken down.
Police responded to Griffen's home, as did mental health professionals. Griffen did not leave his home until early in the afternoon, when an ambulance brought him to a mental health facility.
Investigators say they believe that Griffen was alone Wednesday morning, noting that they were "unable to locate an intruder."
RELATED: Vikings: Everson Griffen Came Out Of His Home And Is Getting The Care He Needs
Griffen, who returned to the Vikings this season after a year in Dallas and Detroit, took time away from the team in 2018 after an incident at the Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis.
In that incident witnesses said Griffen was acting paranoid and threatening to assault the staff. At the time, the Vikings' security director told police Griffen had "not been acting normal" and "it's almost like he is having a nervous breakdown."
When Griffen stepped away from the team in 2018, he said in a statement he was "focused on resolving personal issues with which I have been dealing for a long time."
Upon his return, he said, "I had a lot of time to reflect on my life and where I want to go and the decisions I made. I just want to get better with some of the decisions that I made and just improve on them."
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