Vikings Have a Chance to Be at Full Strength on Sunday
The Minnesota Vikings have been haunted by injuries all season, but in recent weeks, they have been surprisingly healthy. Various players have returned from stints on the sidelines, certainly headlined by quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The young passer has finally been able to stack reps, which is crucial in his development.
Vikings Have a Chance to Be at Full Strength on Sunday
McCarthy is benefiting from a healthier offensive line than what Carson Wentz had to deal with for a while. At one point, the veteran played with only Will Fries from the intended starting unit.
More good news on that front arrived on Wednesday, as the Vikings announced that the club had opened Ryan Kelly’s 21-day practice window.
A second concussion of the season landed him on IR following the Week 4 premiere in Dublin, Ireland. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of concern about the center’s future on and off the field. Last week, head coach Kevin O’Connell informed folks of his return to the practice field, at least on a side field.
While he was still on IR, he was not permitted to take part in team practice. Now that his practice window is open, he can get on the field and practice with his teammates. The Vikings have to activate him within those 21 days, and then he’s eligible to play. If they don’t, the player is out for the remainder of the season, but that is indeed rare.
On Wednesday, O’Connell addressed the media, and he was asked about Kelly’s status going forward: “I think it’s kinda just the next step for him. As I think I mentioned when we made the decision to put him on injured reserve, the idea was to have a concrete timeline that now we’ve exceeded out of an abundance of what’s best for Ryan. He’s doing great; he really responded well to the work on the side field last week. This week is really more about getting him phased back into practice. He’s gonna be, I believe, wearing a new helmet, guardian cap, doing some of those things from a preventive measure.”
There’s still a chance Kelly will be held out on Sunday. At least there’s hope of getting him back sooner rather than later to complete the offensive line and, hopefully, finally get some games out of the entire group the Vikings have spent a ton of resources to assemble.
Bookend tackles Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw both signed big-time extensions in recent years. Darrisaw missed the first two games of the season because of his ACL injury suffered last year and has been in and out of the lineup since. O’Neill missed a couple of games with his MCL sprain, which he also suffered in Dublin.
Guard Donovan Jackson was acquired in the draft as the missing piece, completing the interior overhaul that had already brought Fries and Kelly to the Twin Cities. Jackson missed some time following wrist surgery. He’s been a promising player for the Vikings despite some mixed-in rookie mistakes.
Kelly signed a two-year deal in March, as the Vikings wanted to upgrade on Garrett Bradbury, who is the center for the New England Patriots this year. The four-time Pro Bowler, formerly with the Colts, has been pretty good on the field, but his injury resume was concerning when he signed, and it surely hasn’t gotten any better.
If Kelly is back by Sunday and the Vikings get Jonathan Greenard to play despite his shoulder injury suffered in the Ravens game (O’Connell mentioned his status for Sunday is in question), the entire starting unit would be available.
Kelly, 32, is nearing his return.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.