Vikings Secondary Remains Shorthanded

Dec 9, 2021; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) celebrates a sack during the second quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Vikings went into the Philadelphia Eagles game somewhat banged up in the secondary with Andrew Booth Jr. missing the game. He suffered a quad injury during the season opener against Green Bay after playing just two special teams snaps. Then, Harrison Smith left the Eagles game after taking a hit to the helmet and went into concussion protocol. On Thursday’s injury report, the Vikings secondary continues to look rather shorthanded.

Now, the good thing for the Vikings is that this injury report remains concise. It is not the CVS receipt-sized report that we have seen from other teams. The bad thing is that their upcoming matchup is against the Detroit Lions, one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL.

Detroit features a running back in D’Andre Swift who is averaging a cool 10 yards per carry through two weeks. On top of that, Amon-Ra St. Brown has recorded 17 catches through two games and has garnered a target share for the Lions that many Vikings fans have hoped to see for Justin Jefferson.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1103413″ player=”26281″ title=”Lions%20at%20Vikings%20Preview%20with%20Bryant%20McKinnie” duration=”1786″ description=”Bryant McKinnie and Will Goodwin stop by to chat with Raun Sawh and Dustin Baker about Vikings and Lions in Week 3.” uploaddate=”2022-09-22″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/snapshot/1103413_th_1663866371.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/sd/1103413.mp4″ width=”16″ height=”9″]

If Harrison Smith is in fact unable to play on Sunday, that makes an already tough matchup even more of a headache. That said, Ed Donatell assured that both Josh Metellus and Lewis Cine are ready to play if need be, but wouldn’t say which would start.

“Both [Cine and Metellus] will be in the mix. Those are things that we don’t know. That’s days away. We’re prepared, and you could see both. Either or.”

Watching the press conference, it’s also notable that Donatell is not concerned about the Vikings defensive scheme, and he stated that the Vikings are “still learning about our team.” This certainly feels like it should be the calling cry for this Vikings team as a whole. They are still learning, and this is not the team that they will be two months from now. Hopefully there can be a bounce back this week at home against Detroit, even if the Vikings secondary will be shorthanded.

Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing as well as minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh can often be found training for a marathon, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his takes, NFL and otherwise, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken

Share: