Vikings Place Separate Injury Designations on TJ Hockenson and Stud UDFA Gabe Murphy

On Monday, we found out that the Minnesota Vikings will not be cutting veteran offensive lineman, Dalton Risner. Instead, they will place him on injured reserve Tuesday, before the 3 PM deadline to cut NFL rosters down to 53 players.

Gabriel Murphy to land on Minnesota Vikings injured reserve

This morning, we found out who will occupy the Vikings’ second short-term IR designation. According to Ian Rapoport (NFL Network), it will be undrafted free agent EDGE rusher, Gabriel Murphy.

The #Vikings will place promising UDFA LB Gabriel Murphy on short-term IR to begin the season, source said. The former UCLA standout flashed early in camp.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 27, 2024

The UCLA alum wasn’t just an early camp favorite to land a roster spot. All eyes were on him, even before he hit the practice fields at TCO Performance Center. Don’t believe me? Fine, money talks.

Many NFL Draft experts couldn’t believe Murphy was passed on over 250 times back in April. That’s why the 23-year-old demanded a whopping $245,000 guaranteed, to sign with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent.

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Gabe quickly lived up to his UDFA hype (if that can be a thing) during rookie mini camp and once Training Camp started. Unfortunately, an injury has kept him on the sideline for weeks. Still, the Vikings clearly believe in his future, because these short-term IR designations are very limited.

TJ Hockenson hits Vikings PUP List

Last week, it was believed that TJ Hockenson would occupy one of two short term IL designations for the Minnesota Vikings, coming out of training camp. More recently, that proved not to be the case.

Instead, the pro bowl tight end will begin the season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, which is a different injury designation, and one that requires Hockenson to miss at least four weeks, before returning to action.

Not a surprise but Vikings T.J. Hockenson will start the season on the PUP, per sources. That means he will miss the first 4 games. @AdamSchefter on it first.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 27, 2024

There was some early signs that TJ might be able to return from his injury a bit sooner than expected. Then, last week per reports, he suddenly appeared to be moving slower than he had been during prior practices.

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Should the former Iowa Hawkeye return immediately, when eligible in week five, it’s possible he’d still be ahead of schedule. According to The Athletic, the Vikings are optimistic that will be the case. That TJ Hockenson will be ready to go in London, vs the New York Jets.