Photo courtesy of Vikings.com
There are no major surprises this week on the Vikings inactives for their game in Jacksonville against the Jaguars.
Though it was anticipated Marcus Sherels would suit up for today’s game, thus spawning this excellent article by Austin Belisle, the homegrown punt return specialist will miss his fourth game of the last five weeks.
Harrison Smith, who is dealing with a left ankle injury, will also miss today’s game. His spot will be filled by Anthony Harris who will be making his first start of the season.
The offensive line woes continue as center Joe Berger has been ruled out. Berger suffered a concussion two weeks ago in a game against the Detroit Lions. Despite his limited participation this week in practice, Berger is still in the league’s concussion protocol and was held out of Thursday and Friday’s practice. Nick Easton will get his second straight start in Berger’s place.
The other Vikings ruled out are below:
On the other side of the ball, the Jaguars are without their fair share of players. Running back Chris Ivory, stud wide receiver Allen Hurns and center Brandon Linder lead the list (which can be found in its entirety below).
Due to the recent plummet in the Vikings record, they find themselves in a barrage of must-win games to close out the season. Winning the division seems unlikely this point unless Detroit manages to really shoot themselves in the foot and give up the separation they’ve put between themselves and Minnesota. However, the Vikings wild card hopes are still alive.
The Vikings will need to overcome not having Harrison Smith in the secondary today and leave Jacksonville with a win to keep their playoff aspirations alive.