Vikings Reinforcements Appear on the Horizon
Lately, there has been a ton of focus on who is absent.
All of J.J. McCarthy, Blake Cashman, Aaron Jones, Andrew Van Ginkel, and several others have succumbed to injury since the season began. Just a pair of games have been played but the roster is already showing significant injury turmoil. Some Vikings reinforcements would therefore come as a major relief for the team and its fans.
Vikings Reinforcements in Week 3
Start off up front.
Left tackle Christian Darrisaw is moving in the right direction. Sorting through Kevin O’Connell’s optimism to figure out what’s actually taking place can be difficult, but it’s notable enough when the head coach offers a firm, declarative, confident “yes” when asked about the top lineman being close to getting back onto the field.
Football, a matchup sport, becomes a whole lot easier when a tackle of capable of going toe-to-toe with the other team’s top pass rusher can put on his shoulder pads. For the Bengals in Week 3, that means slowing down Trey Hendrickson, someone coming off a 17.5-sack season where he was named to the Pro Bowl, was honored as a first-team All Pro, and finished in second place for Defensive Player of the Year.
Less consequential but still promising is that Gabriel Murphy has avoided disaster.
The sophomore pass rusher left the Week 2 game, creating concern about a worst-case scenario like a torn ACL or something similar. O’Connell has said Murphy isn’t down for the count: “We did avoid, thank goodness, some serious injuries on Gabe Murphy and Jonathan Greenard.” Not long afterwards, O’Connell said the Vikings were thrilled to “avoid what we feared at the moment to be potentially serious” for Murphy.
The defense could then see further help with edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel alongside corner Jeff Okudah.
O’Connell’s explanation for where things are trending: “We’re expecting some good news on Okudah and Gink with where they’re at in the phase of the protocol being able to begin their practice work and clear that last hurdle to hopefully be available this week.”
The protocol he’s referencing is the NFL’s concussion protocol. Being able to handle the larger workload without there being any worsening concussion symptoms likely involves seeing the CB3 and EDGE2 back on the field for Sunday.
There is even some hope for Harrison Smith to get back onto the field.
“We’ll see where Harry and CD are, as well,” O’Connell said, “as they continue their ramp-up plan.” The pair of players are Harrison Smith alongside Christian Darrisaw (the left tackle whom he discusses in a separate answer). The veteran safety’s greatest assets are his intelligence and versatility. Wouldn’t be at all shocking, folks, if Smith stepped onto the field on Sunday afternoon and made some huge plays.
Smith and Darrisaw are supposed to be available for Wednesday’s practice.
By way of recap, consider the players who could all reasonably be available based on what Kevin O’Connell said:
- Christian Darrisaw, LT1
- Harrison Smith, S2
- Andrew Van Ginkel, EDGE2
- Jeff Okudah, CB3
Adding starting-level talent at left tackle, edge rusher, and within the secondary would be a major boost for Minnesota. So, too, would Murphy’s availability be a nice development even if he’s a depth player (he’s somewhat of a mystery since O’Connell’s update ruled out long-term injury; Murphy may need some short-term rest).
The Vikings reinforcements aren’t locked into being active. Each player is working on a separate, individualized recovery timeline that will dictate availability.
There is, nevertheless, hope that some of these players — if not all — will be available in time for the Week 3 Bengals battle at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
