As for Sunday, Ryan praised Assistant Equipment Manager Adam Groene and Equipment Assistant Terrell Barnes for running a smooth operation in his absence.
“I had a lot of contact with Terrell and Adam, just walking through things I would typically do on game day,” Ryan said. “I helped those guys along, and they did great.”
And what was it like to watch at home rather than be on the sideline?
“It was a strange day,” said Ryan, who parked himself in front of his television at 10 a.m. and didn’t change the channel. He watched with his wife, Laura, and two dogs, Bear and Beau.
“After Justin Jefferson scored his first touchdown, Bear didn’t like my tone of voice,” Ryan quipped. “He took off and spent the rest the day away from me.
“Beau hung in there for the whole game,” Ryan added.
But even from home, Ryan couldn’t escape the weekly drama that has followed the 5-5 Vikings through 10 games in 2021.
Right when Green Bay tied the game at 31 late in the fourth quarter, Ryan’s television went into reset mode. He scrambled upstairs to find another television and missed Cousins’ near-interception before getting to watch Joseph’s walk-off winner.
“Probably a fortunate thing that I did miss that, just to not add to the nerves,” Ryan said with a laugh. “I’m always pretty calm on the sideline at the stadium, but it was a little more nerve-wracking to watch it on TV.
“There’s nothing I can ever do about anything anyway,” Ryan said. “But being there in person settles me down, anyway.”
Even though Ryan wasn’t in attendance, he still savored a win over Green Bay just like any other time.
“Anytime you have a win over the Packers, it’s special,” Ryan said. “But then to make it the 500th in the history of the team, it really adds to it.
“It seems like the one team we’ve had the craziest endings against would be the Packers,” Ryan added. “There have been some crazy games, and it’s quite the rivalry, being so close. Even if one team is down one year, it’s a huge game on both sides of the border.”
Ryan said he plans on being back at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center later this week.
And he’ll be in action for this weekend’s game in San Francisco, where a new streak will start after ending the previous one at 705.
“I just want to get back to work,” Ryan said. “But I know I’m not starting a new streak that is going to match that one.”
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