Photo courtesy of vikings.com
Oh what a time it is to be a Vikings fan. Coming off one of the most exciting wins in recent memory vs. the Packers, the team has been bitten by the injury bug.
Following the announcements of losing both Adrian Peterson and Matt Kalil for the season, head coach Mike Zimmer announced Thursday that defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd had surgery on his left knee today.
While breaking training camp, everyone commented on the amount of young talent and depth the Vikings carried into the regular season. We’ll now get a chance to see that in action as the Vikings have now lost their fourth starter for extended amounts of time.
Zimmer did not give a timetable for Floyd’s return, but did add the following:
Although acknowledged as a cartilage issue for Floyd and classified as a ‘clean up,’ Zimmer’s comments above don’t necessarily provide a positive outline on Floyd’s immediate return.
Both Tom Johnson and Shamar Stephen have proven capable in filling the void left by Floyd, but that strategy again taps into the depth of a position the Vikings like to get creative with and rotate heavily during games.
I personally expect defensive end Brian Robison to get additional time inside as a pass rusher and standing up in unique defensive formations. Robison’s versatility provides another way to back-fill Floyd but also gives second year up and comer Danielle Hunter an opportunity to get on the field.
If you are looking for a silver lining, top corner back Xavier Rhodes has practiced for two consecutive days after missing the first two weeks of the season. Here’s hoping he can return for Sunday’s game.
Stay tuned to Vikings Territory as we’ll have more updates as their available about Floyd’s injury and potential return.
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Toby Johnson can be activated from the practice squad, correct? Thank goodness for our deep bench, young and not-so-young, alike.
How's it going ck? I would think that with Adrian and Kalil both on the IR that they would have one roster spot available. I have not heard of a roster spot taken other than Hillman. That should leave one more. No mention here of Floyd going on IR. I hope that it means he will be able to be back in no more than a month. They have covered for Teddy, I am actually excited to see what McKinnon can do if given the majority of the snaps, worried about LT though. TJ is being thrown into the fire again. Now really wishing that they would have done what I was hoping for and traded down to top of second to grab Spriggs. Probably could have picked up an additional pick in at least the 4th. Tread is just riding pine. They sure needed tackles worse than a WR. sigh. But I am not worried so much about the Sheriff. Better to have him but Robison can play from the inside giving Hunter more snaps. Johnson and Stephan, maybe some rotation time for Toby. I don't mind that so much as long as all of those options give Hunter more snaps. His situation and production is very much reminding me of what Everson did during Jared Allen's last year. Griffen, Robison, and Hunter should be able to put a fair amount of pressure on opposing QB's. SKOL Vikes brother!!
Its the same guys hurt all the time. Kilil played through his injuries but you always knew when he was hurt because he was terrible. They need to move on from these guys next year. Its going to be tuff finding a left tackle without a 1st pick.
I think TJ is going to surprise a lot of people here. I really do. He will be better, much better, than last year and will be much better than an injured Kalil and may approach the healthy Kalil level after a few games. he looks noticeably bigger in the upper body vs. 12 months ago and he did ok in pre-season, actually didn't really allow any sacks or pressure. yes, it was only pre-season but he was still going up against decent competition.
Clemmings has only been on offense a few years. Switched from d in college. He has a ton of potential, hope he does well.