There’s Some Concern About 1 Key Vikings Defender
Sunday’s game was once again a defeat — the fifth in only nine games for the Minnesota Vikings. That’s already one more than in the entire 2024 regular season. Mind you, there are another eight contests to go in this campaign.
There’s Some Concern About 1 Key Vikings Defender
After some encouraging signs against the Detroit Lions in Week 9, the Vikings repeated some old shenanigans, like pre-snap penalties and turnovers. It was an actual regression game for Kevin O’Connell’s squad. One could summarize the past week by saying, “one step forward, two steps back.”
In addition to that, there are concerns about one of the top Vikings defenders. Pass rusher Jonathan Greenard left Sunday’s game with an apparent shoulder injury. The second-year Viking was in obvious pain and was ruled out after a quick evaluation in the medical tent.
After the game, head coach O’Connell didn’t have much of an update and left things as vague as possible. “Jonathan Greenard did have a left shoulder injury. He’ll get assessed later today and into tomorrow, but I’ll be able to give you guys an update on that.”
Just last week, he used the same platform to say that Aaron Jones’ shoulder injury is minor and that he could be back as soon as the game against the Ravens. He indeed returned and didn’t miss a game with the shoulder.
In Greenard’s case, no such update was provided. Whether that implies a more severe injury and a longer absence could be on the horizon is surely speculation.
Less speculative is that the Vikings would miss their top edge guy. He’s the designated pass rusher. Unlike Andrew Van Ginkel, who is used in a variety of ways, Greenard was acquired to get after the quarterback (and stop the run). He’s not much of a coverage player; the Vikings, in fact, often try to isolate him on the edge to make the tackle’s life harder.
Greenard was a rockstar in training camp, but his regular season has not matched that level of play, at least from a numbers perspective. The Pro Bowler has struggled to finish plays, allowing quarterbacks to leave his grasp more often than he would have hoped for.
He still led the team with 33 QB pressures and 24 QB hurries entering the game and he is a decent run-stopper. The Vikings need him on the field, not on the sidelines. Once Greenard was out, the Ravens picked up even more momentum, starting to rack up rushing yards behind their patented rushing offense headlined by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
If Greenard can’t go, Brian Flores would have to turn to Dallas Turner, the sophomore. Linebacker Eric Wilson and defensive tackle Jalen Redmond have also gotten some playing time on the edge. Turner played a significant role while Van Ginkel was out with his neck injury, trying to emulate Van Ginkel’s versatile job.
That’s certainly a tough ask for anyone. Perhaps Turner would slide into the role of a traditional pass rusher with Greenard on ice. He’s yet to live up to his first-round draft pedigree, although there have been occasional flashes. It’s also worth noting that he’s still just 22 years old.
Either way, he would have to fill some big shoes.
We’ll now wait for Monday’s presser and hope to learn more about his status going forward.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.