Vikings Place Third-Year Player on IR
Minnesota’s injury reserve is quite full, although we’ve only reached September. The Vikings have already lost rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy for the year with his meniscus surgery. The good news, of course, is that Sam Darnold has been fantastic, and McCarthy has seemingly shown enough for the decision-makers to regard him as the franchise quarterback.
Vikings Place Third-Year Player on IR
In the first training camp practice, cornerback Mekhi Blackmon suffered a season-ending ACL rupture. Offensive lineman Jeremy Flax, linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk, and special teams ace NaJee Thompson have joined McCarthy and Blackmon on season-ending IR. Offensive guard Dalton Risner and outside linebacker Gabriel Murphy are on IR with the option to return.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell reported that Nick Muse, depth tight end, suffered a fractured hand in Sunday’s win over the San Francisco 49ers. He has also been placed on IR with the possibility of returning.
The fascinating element is that Muse, a third-year player out of the University of South Carolina, made the game-clinching play, securing San Francisco’s onside kick after suffering the injury. O’Connell said on Wednesday:
Want to just highlight Nick Muse, early on in the football game, he did have a small fracture in his hand and he will … he could play, but it would require him to wear a big old cast on his hand and have that thing wrapped, so Nick’s value as a blocker and a pass catcher for us on game day, we thought it best to allow that thing to heal over the next three to four weeks. He was placed on short-term IR.
Muse was the final pick of Minnesota’s 2022 draft class, a group that has been heavily criticized. Before transferring to South Carolina, the 25-year-old had played a couple seasons for William & Mary.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah picked him with his 227th overall pick. Muse failed to make the 53-man roster in his debut season, but he was stashed on the practice squad and was signed to the roster later in the season.
So far, Muse has played in 14 career games, catching one pass for 22 yards. All but five of his 161 career snaps have been on special teams, which is where the Vikings will need to find a replacement.
On offense, the Vikings employ Johnny Mundt and Josh Oliver, who have taken over the TE1 and TE2 roles with Hockenson sidelined.
Robert Tonyan and N’Keal Harry are on the practice squad and are strong candidates to take Muse’s spot for at least the next four weeks. Neither was active in the first two games of the season.
Running back Myles Gaskin has been signed to the 53-man roster. He was active in both games, playing nine special teams and two offensive snaps. He rushed once, losing three yards, and is technically the team’s third running back behind starter Aaron Jones and backup Ty Chandler.
Muse is eligible to return from IR for the Week 8 contest versus the Los Angeles Rams.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Let Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Cook
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt