Injury Report Week 10 ‒ Vikings at Jaguars
The Vikings did what they had to do and beat the Colts last Sunday to get back on track and improve to 6-2. They now have three weeks of away games, which have a history of influencing the injury report. Between flying to Jacksonville, Nashville, Chicago, and back to Minnesota every week, the Vikings will travel 4678 miles. That’s almost the distance between Minneapolis and Munich, where the Panthers and Giants are playing Sunday.
It’s a good thing that the Vikings are starting this sequence fairly healthy, with only two players dealing with bigger injuries and a rookie close to returning. The Jaguars, on the other hand, are as banged up as you can be, with Doug Pederson listing seven players as questionable and two already ruled out. He could be down almost 20% of his roster for the game.
Jacksonville Jaguars Injuries
As I said, a lot of Jaguars’ players are dealing with injuries. The two that are already out are OG Ezra Cleveland and DT Maason Smith. Both are dealing with ankle injuries, but Cleveland didn’t practice the whole week, and Smith was limited.
The biggest headline this week is that QB Trevor Lawrence probably won’t play. When asked about this, coach Pederson said that is trending towards him not playing, meaning that Mac Jones is in line to start. It’s unclear when this injury happened, but according to Ian Rapoport, surgery is on the table. He was ruled out on Sunday.
Also according to Doug Pederson, WR Gabe Davis “looks great,” and he believes Davis will be available this Sunday. The wide receiver room is really thin down in Jacksonville, but they could get an upgrade this week. WR/PR/KR Devin Duvernay has had his practice window opened to return from injury reserve and was a full participant this week. The Jaguars haven’t officially activated him, so he’s questionable as well. It will be an important addition for them, as Christian Kirk broke his collarbone a few weeks ago, and rookie Brian Thomas is also questionable with a chest injury.
Besides these players, the Jaguars are listing S Daniel Thomas (hamstring), RB Keilan Robinson (toe), DB Andrew Wingard (knee), and RB D’Ernest Johnson (hamstring). Also appearing on the injury report this week were RBs Tank Bigsby (ankle), Travis Etienne (hamstring), and OG Brandon Scherff (knee). The running back duo was limited the entire week, while Scherff was a non-participant on Wednesday before being upgraded to limited the next two days but the trio doesn’t have an injury designation and is good to go.
Minnesota Vikings Injuries
A couple of weeks ago, the Vikings had an injury report as big as the Jaguars’ one, but thankfully, they are improving. Kevin O’Connell didn’t rule out any player for the game, and two players are questionable for the game in Florida.
LB Blake Cashman, still recovering from a turf toe suffered in Week 5, was limited on Wednesday and Thursday before being upgraded to a full participant on Friday. This is the first time he practiced since the injury. Fellow LB Ivan Pace, who is dealing with a knee injury, didn’t practice on Wednesday, was upgraded to limited the next day and to full the day after that.
The other relevant player is undrafted rookie Gabriel Murphy, who had his practice window opened on Wednesday. The OLB hurt his knee during training camp and had to be sidelined until now. He was limited on Wednesday and Friday and a non-participant on Thursday. The Vikings ruled him out on Saturday.
The three other players dealing with injuries are CB Akayleb Evans (hip), S Theo Jackson (hand), and TE Josh Oliver (wrist). Evans is the only one that was limited at some point during the week (Wednesday). If you are reading this every week, you know these players have been on the injury report for a few weeks now, but apart from Evans, they haven’t missed any games. The trio is without an injury designation for the game.
The odd thing this week was two other players with rest days. Stephon Gilmore and Harrison Smith usually have Fridays off to be in better shape for gameday. This week, though, C Garrett Bradbury and OLB Andrew Van Ginkel had days off on Wednesday. DC Brian Flores said Tuesday that Ginkel was dealing with something in the Colts game. That’s why Dallas Turner had more snaps. Flores is also using Ginkel as an off-ball linebacker more while Blake Cashman is out.
Matchups to Watch in Week 10 ‒ The Ghost of Backup QBs and a Revenge Game