Latest Minnesota Vikings Injury Update Brings Good News on Harrison Smith and Ivan Pace Jr

The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Seattle Seahawks over the weekend, to move to 13-2 on the season, and they did so without Harrison Smith, who was a semi-surprising inactive in week 16.

It was the first game Smith has missed since week 18 of the 2022 season vs the Chicago Bears, a start streak that had reached 31 games in a row, prior to his absence on Sunday. In week 17 vs the Green Bay Packers, though, it sounds like Harry the Hitman will start a new streak.

Early Week 17 Minnesota Vikings injury updates: Good news on Harrison Smith and Ivan Pace Jr

On Monday, head coach Kevin O’Connell met with reporters and said he expects his future Ring of Honor safety to return vs the Vikings’ hated rival, in what will be one of the most anticipated iterations of the historic rivalry in recent seasons.

“Harrison Smith, as I kinda said yesterday, truly was a game-time [decision]. So to get the victory, and also make sure we gave him a day, he should be able to progress through the week and be available for us [vs the Packers].”

Kevin O’Connell on Harrison Smith injury status

But Harrison Smith wasn’t the only optimistic injury update we got from Minnesota’s head coach yesterday. Ivan Pace Jr had his practice window opened, which means he now has 21 days to get back on the active roster.

In Pace’s case, it sounds like it could be much sooner than that, possibly even this week vs the Packers. When pressed on the linebacker’s status for Sunday, O’Connell pushed back a little bit, but did confirm that the plan is to “get him some work, and then have him available” vs for a huge week 17 game this weekend.

KOC: “We will open Ivan Pace Jr’s window, to begin practicing. [I am] very excited about that.”

Reporter: “Just to clarify, you made it sound like Ivan definitely is going to come back this week…?”

KOC: “Well, we’re going to open his window and we’ll see how he progresses. Coming off of a hamstring [injury] you never quite know, so I don’t want to be absolute. But the plan is to open his window, get him some work and hopefully have him available [on Sunday].”

Kevin O’Connell press conference back-and-forth from Monday

Related: What We Learned About the Vikings in Latest Nerve-Racking Win vs Seahawks

The reporter who asked that Ivan Pace Jr follow-up question to the Minnesota Vikings head coach was the Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer. That is notable, because of something Krammer said late last week, as a guest on Matthew Coller‘s “Purple Insider” podcast.

Ivan Pace Jr has been ready to return…?

There, the Vikings insider and beat writer recalled a recent comment from Kevin O’Connell where, “reading between the lines”, the head coach pretty much admitted that the Vikings mistakenly placed Pace Jr on injured reserve.

That the sophomore linebacker’s hamstring injury was not as serious as they originally determined, and he’s been healthy enough to return, but just hadn’t yet reached the four weeks on IR necessary to make him eligible.

“O’Connell mentioned something this week, where he said, you know, maybe his return would have been sooner than we expected, meaning that I think they probably, reading between the lines, it seems like he could have been out here this week, but he’s on IR, so they can’t bring him back yet.”

Andrew Krammer – Purple Insider Podcast

Fabian Moreau, Jalen Redmond much more questionable

Back to KOC’s press conference from Monday, where he also gave updates on Jalen Redmond and backup CB Fabian Moreau, who have more questions surrounding their status for week 17 than Ivan Pace Jr and Harrison Smith.

Related: Week 16 PFF Grades: Minnesota Vikings’ Top Performers and Key Takeaways

Redmond is still in concussion protocol, but he is doing better than last week. Independent doctors will work with Vikings doctors to monitor the 25-year-old‘s progress the rest of this week, to see if he is able to clear protocol. As for Moreau, he is still nursing his way back from a hip injury suffered in week 15 vs Chicago.

The 30-year-old also sounds like more of a longshot to be active vs the Packers. Even with Gilmore healthy, Moreau proved himself as very serviceable and would allow defensive coordinator Brian Flores a much deeper group of cornerbacks, for this final two-game stretch run.