2 Vikings Defenders Return to Practice on Monday
Josh Frey
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After being one of the healthier teams throughout the early portion of the 2022 season, the Minnesota Vikings are banged up at some key positions. Most notably, star left tackle Christian Darrisaw has already been announced as out for the Thanksgiving game against the Patriots. However, Monday’s injury report suggested that a pair of Vikings defenders return to practice ahead of Thursday’s game.
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Those two defenders are DE Dalvin Tomlinson as well as CB Akayleb Evans. It’s the first time that Tomlinson has done any sort of practice since suffering his calf injury on October 30th against the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, Evans left against Buffalo with a concussion, and that injury forced him to sit this past weekend’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
In his stead, it was Andrew Booth Jr. taking snaps at CB, and Dallas continuously picked on the rookie. On Monday, Booth was a DNP with a knee injury, so that’s another situation to monitor. Here’s the full list of players on Minnesota’s first injury report:
- CB Andrew Booth Jr.- DNP (knee)
- LT Christian Darrisaw- DNP (concussion)
- CB Akayleb Evans- Limited (concussion)
- OLB Za’Darius Smith- Limited (knee)
- DL Dalvin Tomlinson- Limited (calf)
- WR Justin Jefferson- Full (toe)
A final note on this first injury report is the fact that Justin Jefferson shows up again, but he remains a full participant. This is promising as he was limited early in the week after the Bills game with his turf toe. It would have been fair to be somewhat concerned that the toe injury could have flared up again versus Dallas, but it appears no such event happened.
As for the New England Patriots, the biggest note to keep in mind from their injury report is the fact that their starting center David Andrews left Sunday’s game with what is being called a serious thigh injury. There was some initial concern that the injury could end his season, but there appears to be a chance that he returns late in the season for the Patriots. Either way, he will miss this week’s game against the Vikings.
As for the rest of the Patriots injuries, here is their first injury report of Week 12:
- C David Andrews- DNP (thigh)
- LB Anfernee Jennings- Limited (back)
- DB Marcus Jones- Limited (ankle)
- WR Devante Parker- Limited (knee)
- LB Josh Uche- Limited (hamstring)
- OL Isaiah Wynn- Limited (foot)
We will be sure to keep you updated on all the news from both sides of this Thanksgiving matchup throughout the week. Kickoff between the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots is scheduled for Thanksgiving night at 7:20 PM CST.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.