The Jonathan Greenard Injury Update Arrived on Monday
The Minnesota Vikings gave their fans a pretty bad experience on Sunday, with their third home defeat of the season. Filled with mistakes, the squad couldn’t topple the Baltimore Ravens and fell to 4-5 in the standings, losing even more ground in the NFC North.
The Jonathan Greenard Injury Update Arrived on Monday
That game caused enough concern; it didn’t really need any extra injuries. However, pass rusher Jonathan Greenard left Sunday’s game in the third quarter with what looked like a painful shoulder injury. After a quick stint in the medical tent, he left for the locker room and was ruled out for the remainder of the day.
When Kevin O’Connell addressed the media after the loss, he didn’t have an update about his star defender and deferred to Monday’s presser.
A day later, he once again spoke to the media and announced that the evaluations had delivered good news about Greenard’s status.
“Got some good news on JG. (We’ll) see how he does throughout the week. He’s sore today, but we’ll see if he can get some time in this week on the practice field and potentially be available for this Sunday. I do think we avoided a long-term injury with him.”
It undoubtedly looked like something that could cost the defender multiple weeks or even the final eight games of the season, but he’ll be back sooner rather than later.
Ultimately, Greenard could still miss Sunday’s Week 12 bout against the Chicago Bears. We’ll have to monitor the injury reports from Wednesday through Friday to get more clarity.
If Greenard is indeed out for a game or two, it would be the Dallas Turner show at right outside linebacker. The sophomore has been a backup for most of his time in the Twin Cities, but with Andrew Van Ginkel’s absence earlier in the season, Turner stepped into a versatile role that includes rushing and coverage duties.
Greenard has a more straightforward job as an edge defender. His primary tasks are to set the edge in the running game and to get after the passer on passing plays. The Vikings have also experimented with defensive tackle Jalen Redmond and linebacker Eric Wilson lining up over the left tackle, and it has helped prevent the Lions and the Ravens from dominating with their excellent rushing attacks.
There’s no doubt about it, Greenard is as close to being an irreplaceable piece in Brian Flores’ defensive puzzle as it gets. Though he has just two sacks on his 2025 resume, he has been in the backfield the most among Vikings defenders. He’s just as disruptive as he was a year ago, but he hasn’t been as effective at finishing plays and turning pressures into sacks.
Greenard signed a four-year deal for $76 million in the 2024 offseason, and he has been excellent throughout his Vikings tenure. Houston allowed him to test the market and decided to sign long-time Vikings defender Danielle Hunter instead. The two franchises just swapped edge rushers. In their first seasons with new teams, both landed on the Pro Bowl roster.
Expect Greenard’s status to be monitored closely this week. He has a shot at chasing Caleb Williams on Sunday. The linebacker has not missed a game in his time with the Vikings.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.