Vikings Will Be Without Two Starting Offensive Linemen vs. Lions in Week 18
Josh Frey
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The Minnesota Vikings are heading into their Week 18 game against the Detroit Lions extremely shorthanded.
They listed a total of six players as out on Friday’s injury report, including CBs Mekhi Blackmon and Byron Murphy as well as RT Brian O’Neill. In addition, LT Christian Darrisaw and RG Ed Ingram were listed as questionable.
While Darrisaw has seemingly recovered from his illness and will suit up for the Vikings on Sunday, Minnesota will be without two starting offensive linemen this weekend as Ed Ingram appeared on the inactive list ahead of the game.
Vikings Will Miss Two Starting Offensive Linemen in Week 18
Here is a look at the full inactive list for the Vikings going into Sunday’s regular season finale:
- CB Mekhi Blackmon
- CB Byron Murphy
- QB Jaren Hall
- S Theo Jackson
- RG Ed Ingram
- RT Brian O’Neill
- DL Jaquelin Roy
Without either of Ingram or O’Neill in the lineup, it appears that Blake Brandel will get the start at right guard while David Quessenberry should be in line to take O’Neill’s spot once again. Brandel started for Ingram back in Week 14. Quessenberry has started three times, mixing time at the tackle spots.
Other than Ingram, there are no real surprises from this inactive list. The Vikings made the decision to promote Josh Dobbs to the backup QB spot on Friday, so Jaren Hall is back in the emergency QB3 role.
Kevin O’Connell spoke on that decision earlier this week, saying, “A lot of things go into it, but just the idea that that third guy cannot go in the game unless there’s been injury to the first two guys. Didn’t think it was fair to Jaren to possibly have him in a situation where, unless he’s injured, he can’t come out of the game.”
Hall started Minnesota’s Week 17 game against the Green Bay Packers, but he completed just five of his 10 passes for 67 yards and an interception. With the Vikings trailing 23-3 at halftime, O’Connell put Nick Mullens in to finish the game, and the veteran will get another crack at the starting job in Week 18.
Despite Minnesota’s 7-9 record, there is still an outside chance that they can make the playoffs, so this game carries some importance for the Vikings.
In order to make the tournament next week, the Vikings need to win and get losses from the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, and one of either the New Orleans Saints or Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
For Detroit, they can still jump into the No. 2 seed in the NFC if they beat Minnesota and get losses from both the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. Kickoff between the Lions and Vikings is scheduled for 12 PM Central, so we’ll soon see which team will scoreboard watch for the rest of the afternoon.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.