One MN Vikings LB Set to Return, Another Still TBD

It has been a tough season for the Minnesota Vikings on the injury front, which has caused head coach Kevin O’Connell to shuffle his lineups on a weekly basis. Thankfully, the early bye week served as an opportunity to right some of their injury wrongs, allowing the Vikings to enter week 7 with a much cleaner bill of health.

Speaking to the media on Monday, O’Connell announced multiple optimistic updates, starting with the defense, which has been without its QB (or ILB) Blake Cashman since Week 1. He’s back on the practice field and is expected to return to game action Sunday.

Blake Cashman set to return against Eagles

Against the Chicago Bears in the season opener, linebacker Blake Cashman suffered a hamstring injury. The severity was significant enough that he wound up needing a stint on short-term injured reserve. Minnesota has been without their green dot on defense, but that will change against the Philadelphia Eagles.

#Vikings standout linebacker Blake Cashman is currently expected to be able to return to action and play this week vs. the #Eagles after missing the last four games due to a hamstring injury, sources tell @CBSSports.

Cashman led Minnesota with 112 tackles last season. pic.twitter.com/GaDRH9jonu

— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) October 14, 2025

“To be back on the grass with your brothers, you start to feel like yourself again. Something [hamstring injuries] I’m familiar with. It’s been a while, but it was really important to get with [the training staff] the first day and go over a plan for the past month to make sure my health is straight and the hammy is bulletproof, so I can go out there with 110 percent confidence.”

Blake Cashman – via Star Tribune

The Minnesota Vikings opened Cashman’s 21-day practice window on Monday. Theoretically he has multiple weeks in order to ready himself for game action. It doesn’t sound as though he’ll need that long.

Cashman’s importance to the Vikings’ defense is massive. He led the team in tackles last season with 112, to go with a career-high 4.5 sacks. Not only does he stand out while on the field, but you notice when he’s not on it too. Without the Gopher grad, Minnesota was a shell of itself in both pass and run defense.

It remains to be seen how defensive coordinator Brian Flores will shuffle his defense, with Cashman back in the fold. Eric Wilson was his backup, but he has played significantly better than Ivan Pace Jr. over the past few weeks. Could we see more Wilson and less Pace Jr, upon Cashman’s return? We’ll soon find out…

MN Vikings still missing Andrew Van Ginkel

Andrew Van Ginkel posted the best season of his career in 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings. This year, he hasn’t been able to build on it, due to a neck injury that has been a problem going back to the start of training camp.

Not only has he missed more games than he’s played, but when Van Ginkel has take the field on game day, it’s been sparingly. In the two weeks Andrew has been active, he’s played just 69 total snaps. Week 3 against Cincinnati, the 30-year-old EDGE played just eight snaps.

Outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel is “doing better,” O’Connell said, but still not practicing due to a neck injury. He has missed the past two games and has not practiced since the Sept. 21 victory over the Bengals, after which O’Connell said he was dealing with residual issues from an August neck issue.

On Monday, Van Ginkel worked through physical rehab with a member of the team’s training staff on a separate field from where the team practiced... “what I see is his workload hopefully picking up as we go,” O’Connell said. “Want to see how he does with some of that side field work. He’ll be a critical guy to get back in there when we can.”

Star Tribune

Van Ginkel has played in just two of the Vikings five games this season. He missed Week 2, and then was back in action against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3. That contest was his last appearance though, and it has now been 23 days since he last played.

Minnesota opted against putting him on injured reserve, but that looks like it may have been the path to go at this point. If they do so now, he’ll miss at least another four games and the front seven will continue to be without one of their top edge rushers.

Van Ginkel sacked Jake Browning twice in Week 3. He put up a career-best 11.5 last season, and unless his availability quickly turns around, it will be tough to match that number. Dallas Turner has seen significant run in his absence.