Cold Water Poured on Star’s Return Theories
Injuries are part of a sport as violent as American Football. Yet, it’s always tough to watch players go down, especially franchise cornerstones that give us joy on a weekly basis. In 2023, Justin Jefferson went through his first extensive stint on the sidelines. Last year, first shiny new passer J.J. McCarthy sustained a season-ending knee injury, and then franchise player Christian Darrisaw went down with a nasty knee injury as well.
Cold Water Poured on Star’s Return Theories
Jefferson returned late in 2023, while McCarthy is fully practicing and is expected to start in Week 1. Darrisaw, however, might not share the field with those two when the club heads to Chicago in September.
His injury occurred in Week 8 of last season, during Minnesota’s second of four losses that season, the first against the Los Angeles Rams. Just before halftime, a Rams defender wanted to dive into a ball carrier, but all he did was hit Darrisaw’s knee. It immediately looked like a serious injury, and a couple of days later, the Vikings confirmed the diagnosis of a torn ACL and MCL.
His season was over, and a lengthy recovery would follow. Last month, at mandatory minicamp, Darrisaw surprisingly took part in some drills with the offensive line, and it started to look like Week 1 was a realistic goal for the large human being.
However, a few weeks later, Vikings beat writer Alec Lewis of The Athletic isn’t nearly as optimistic.
He wrote this week, “Will he be back in time for Week 1? That’s probably a rosy expectation at this point. Still, Darrisaw has attacked his rehab. The Vikings have commended his progress.”
For what it’s worth, this Vikings regime doesn’t particularly rush players back from injuries. Jefferson was held out for several extra weeks in 2023. Last season, tight end T.J. Hockenson, returning from an injury similar to Darrisaw’s, was held out all the way to midseason, although the decision-makers praised him all summer, which is also a parallel to the offensive tackle’s situation.
Earlier this offseason, head coach Kevin O’Connell said, “Christian has absolutely knocked it out of the park so far. He’s had a really, really good offseason up to this point. The latest update I got, he’s lifting, he’s running. … The player that I see right now and the player I know his teammates came back to see today, people were pretty excited about where he’s at. Now it’s just a matter of maintaining, and he’s had such a professional focus really from day one, remarkably. He’s just had such a good attitude about attacking it.”
The Vikings obviously would love to have their phenomenal left tackle back on the field after handing him a massive contract extension a year ago.
If he can’t go, however, it’ll be Justin Skule, a free agent addition, starting at left tackle. Lewis noted about him: “Another underrated offseason signing. Skule filled in admirably for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season. It wouldn’t be the worst idea for the Vikings to pick his brain on Tampa’s run game, either.”
Skule has been a backup tackle for years and has carved out a nice career as a swing tackle alternate. In offseason workouts, he took Darrisaw’s place at left tackle, left of rookie first-rounder Donovan Jackson.
Darrisaw’s recovery will remain a major item to watch throughout the summer. The Vikings usually don’t fully reveal any timelines in training camp, but his workload will tell how he’s coming along.
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