Kyle Rudolph: Good to be back involved in the red zone

[Rowdy]

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The Vikings drove the ball to the 1-yard-line on each of their first two drives on Sunday night and they looked in the same direction both times they got to the foot of the end zone.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins delivered passes to tight end Kyle Rudolph on both occasions and Rudolph wound up with touchdowns in both cases, including a one-handed grab while keeping his feet in the end zone on the first attempt. Cousins called that an “unbelievable” play and he went back to Rudolph for a two-point conversion that put the Vikings up by seven points in the third quarter.

Cousins said the team had to “reinvent” itself with Adam Thielen out of action and Rudolph was happy about how he’s fit into the team’s plans.

“It’s big. It’s what I’ve done my whole career,” Rudolph said. “It’s what I made a name doing. So, it was good to be back involved. Kirk showed a lot of trust in me. Both of those throws were in traffic. That’s what we’ve been working on, that trust throwing balls up in traffic and I just go get them.”

Rudolph also scored in Week Nine and his knack for making plays in the end zone should keep him in the picture once Thielen is back in action.