Rudy is ready.

Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph — the longest-tenured Viking on the 2020 squad — is set to open his 10th season in Minnesota and appear his 18th Border Battle against Green Bay.

Drafted in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Rudolph has posted impressive numbers, consistently producing despite a litany of changes — some of which have been planned and others improvised.

This offseason has been all about improvisation and preparing for real football without any preseason games.

"There's always a sense of excitement going into season openers and Week 1, and obviously that's exponentially higher this year with the circumstances and everything we've gone through over the past six to eight months," Rudolph said.

Despite the uncertainties, lack of an offseason program in the spring and truncated training camp, Rudolph said "personally I'm as prepared as I've ever been going into Game 1 even without, say, three preseason games."

He noted the game-like situations that Head Coach Mike Zimmer has created for the team that included scrimmaging for a full half at U.S. Bank Stadium last month. The experience allowed newcomers the opportunity to work on their game-day routine and exposed veterans to what the venue — one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL — will be like without fans.

Rudolph has recorded 425 career receptions, 4,154 yards and 47 touchdowns, moving up the franchise leaderboard in all three categories. The catches and touchdowns rank fifth in Vikings history, and the yards are 10th.

Perhaps the most impressive and least likely number Rudolph stands to hit during Kickoff Weekend is his 82nd consecutive start, which will match his No. 82 jersey that he selected over 86 when he arrived in Minnesota after wearing No. 9 at Notre Dame.

"I wore 9 my entire life, so I didn't really have a number in the 80s that drew to me," Rudolph recently recalled. "I've always been a fan of Jason Witten. I knew he wore 82, and I felt like 82 was a little bit more of an athletic tight end number as opposed to 86. I went with the lower of the two numbers, and the rest is history."

Aside from equaling a number that Rudolph has worn well, the streak is significant and highly appreciated for multiple reasons.

"In order to play 82 games in a row, you have to have good luck," Rudolph said. "No matter how hard you work on the field, no matter how hard you work off the field, freak things happen throughout the course of games."

An uncontrollable play occurred at Dallas in 2013. Rudolph ended the play with a touchdown and a broken foot after Cowboys safety Barry Church missed a tackle and landed on Rudolph's foot.

Secondly, Rudolph credits his comprehensive plan of taking care of his body.

"I was banged up early in my career, kind of late in college and early in the NFL, battling some soft tissue injuries, thinking I was doing all of the right things to stay on the field, and I wasn't," Rudolph said. "I kind of changed the way I trained, changed the way I take care of my body. I've gotten myself into a routine in the offseason, but also from Monday to Saturday to be able to go and play every week.

"Thirdly, you have to be tough. You're never going to play 82 games completely healthy," Rudolph added. "You have to play through some things. It's just the nature of our game."

After missing seven games in 2014 while recovering from surgery on his hips, Rudolph worked his way back into the lineup. Unfortunately, he got caught in a pile at Detroit in December and missed Minnesota's game at Miami in Week 16. The following week, the best the Vikings could aim for was a 7-9 mark with a win over Chicago.

"They didn't shut me down and put me on IR, so I wanted to do everything I could to make sure I was ready to play on Sunday," Rudolph said. "I remember trying to battle that week and getting ready to go. It was a big win for us to end the year on a high note and go into the offseason with some momentum."

Minnesota prevailed that day, building momentum for an 11-5 mark in 2015 and NFC North crown in Head Coach Mike Zimmer's second season at the helm.

Much harder to foresee was the fact that Rudolph, who missed 15 games from 2013-14, was beginning a streak that continued for the next five seasons and 81 consecutive regular-season starts. It is the longest current continuous chain by an NFL tight end. Kansas City's Travis Kelce is entering 2020 ranked second (32 consecutive games), followed by Cincinnati's C.J. Uzomah (29).

Rudolph's run has exceeded Steve Jordan's mark of 52 by a Vikings tight end (Jordan missed one game in 1989 between streaks of 52 and 51 games), and the 10-year pro has tied linebacker Roy Winston for the 24th-longest consecutive starts streak by a Vikings player at any position.

The most substantial threat to Rudolph's streak occurred in Week 14 of the 2017 season at Carolina. He suffered a high-ankle sprain and began the next week in a walking boot.

Listed as "doubtful" to play against his hometown Cincinnati Bengals on the Friday injury report, Rudolph showed up at Winter Park the following day to run for Vikings Vice President of Sports Medicine Eric Sugarman and former coaches Pat Shurmur and Clancy Barone.

"I remember being in the training room at Winter Park [on Friday] and just begging 'Sugs' because we still had 48 hours before the game, and I hadn't done anything to that point to prove to them that I was going to be able to play," Rudolph recalled. "I just knew I still had 48 hours to try to get myself ready to play. … We had to win those last three games to potentially have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. It was a big stretch for us, and I thought that it was important that I was out on the field each week."

Rudolph displayed determination and his nose for the end zone, lobbying to go in for a particular play on the goal line that resulted in a 1-yard touchdown catch. He followed by hobbling his way through the "Ickey Shuffle" in homage to the former Bengals running back.

"I had missed the last time we played the Bengals," Rudolph said. "I wouldn't get another chance to play the Bengals for another four years, so it was really important for me to get out there because it's my hometown team."

Rudolph also was persuasive in starting the 2019 regular-season finale on a day when Zimmer rested most starters to prepare for the playoffs. Zimmer allowed one snap and then pulled the tight end so he could join other starters on the sideline.

The decision by Zimmer paid off the following week when Minnesota upset New Orleans 26-20 in overtime. Rudolph went up the ladder to reel in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins on third down and silence the Superdome.

Vikings All-Time Consecutive Starts

Kyle Rudolph holds the record for consecutive regular-season starts by a Vikings tight end, having surpassed streaks of 52 and 51 games by Steve Jordan by opening every game of the past five seasons and the 2014 season finale.

1. Jim Marshall, DE 270

2. Mick Tingelhoff, C 240

3. Tim Irwin, T 181

4. Randall McDaniel, G 170

5. Alan Page, DT 157

6. Ron Yary, T 150

7. Cris Carter, WR 144

T8. Paul Krause, S 142

T8. Jeff Siemon, LB 142

10. John Randle, DT 133

11. Carl Eller, DE 125

12. Chris Doleman, DE 111

13. Joey Browner, S 110

14. Gary Zimmerman, T 108

15. Tommy Hannon, S 103

16. Fred McNeill, LB 102

17. Jared Allen, DE 96

T18. Carl Lee, CB 94

T18. Randy Moss, WR 94

20. Chad Greenway, LB 90

T21. Bryant McKinnie, T 88

T21. Ahmad Rashad, WR 88

23. Kevin Williams, DT 83

T24. Kyle Rudolph, TE 81

T24. Roy Winston, LB 81