MN Vikings Bludgeoned by Week 1 Injuries

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Andrew Van Ginkel, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings showed a serious level of resolve in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears. Trailing by 11 in the third quarter, they ripped off 21 unanswered points and held on to win 27-24.

That performance by J.J. McCarthy was the stuff of legend. He stepped in and showed maturity well beyond his years. It’s something that head coach Kevin O’Connell will look to parlay into more success this weekend against the Atlanta Falcons. Unfortunately, the victory didn’t come without sacrifice.

Veteran safety Harrison Smith practiced last week, as did left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Neither star player, however, got enough lead up time on the practice field to make it onto the active roster for Monday’s opener.

Smith’s health problems stem back to some sort of mysterious illness that we still haven’t gotten any details on. Darrisaw has been trending positively for weeks, but was held out of action too.

Multiple Vikings in danger of missing additional time

Unfortunately, it was the new names that hit Minnesota’s injury report on Wednesday. Neither Blake Cashman or Ty Chandler will play this week. Jeff Okudah and Andrew Van Ginkel are both in concussion protocol.

We knew that Cashman was injured during the game. He was in pursuit of Caleb Williams and appeared to come up lame. He then went to the medical tent and remained out of action the rest of the way. It sounds like the injury is a substantial one, and that’s tough for a guy who has missed so much time over his career.

Jeff Okudah was carted to the locker room after the game. Minnesota’s non-existent cornerback depth would drop to just three players if he is unable to go.

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Andrew Van Ginkel played 61-of-67 defensive snaps on Monday night and was the fifth-highest graded defender on the Minnesota Vikings’ roster. He nearly had a pick-six on a tipped pass and was flying everywhere.

Where or when he sustained a possible concussion is uncertain. Minnesota has a short week having played Monday night, and they’ll need to hope that some of these players return to practice as the week goes on.

Injury report made official for Minnesota

Minnesota did not actually practice on Wednesday, but instead held a walkthrough, which requires a simulated injury report where teams must reveal whether or not a player would have practiced, had a practice been held.

Oftentimes, especially under head coach Kevin O’Connell, early-week practice reports have more names on them than those later in the week. Football is a tough sport, at the end of the day.

After revealing some of the more severe injuries coming out of week one, KOC hinted at other players being listed with (hopefully less-demonstrative) health issues of their own: “we’ve got some other guys dealing with bumps and bruises that may show up on the injury report”.

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It didn’t stop the injury report from being a gauntlet of a who’s who. O’Connell indicated that the players he didn’t mention earlier weren’t as much of a concern. Those additions, judging from his tone in the video above, are more precautionary and trying to overstate the situation.

Thursday’s injury report will be telling, and Friday could be damning. We know that there are a few names included who are for sure going to miss serious time. We need to know that there are others who will be ready to rock when kickoff comes at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday night.

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