Week 17 Vikings Injury Report: Rodgers Sits Out in GB
Josh Frey
|
The Minnesota Vikings have a big division rivalry matchup with the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field this weekend. Prior to that matchup, each team will have three days of practice with injury reports. Here is the first Week 17 Vikings injury report:
- C Garrett Bradbury- DNP (back)
- LG Ezra Cleveland- Limited (shoulder)
- CB Cam Dantzler- Full (ankle)
- DL James Lynch- DNP (shoulder)
Once again, we see Garrett Bradbury sitting out practice to begin the week. The Vikings starting center missed his third consecutive game in Week 16 against the New York Giants, and it appears that he is in danger of missing a fourth. In his place, it’s been Austin Schlottmann as the Vikings starter.
A new addition to the injury report this week is Bradbury’s fellow offensive lineman, LG Ezra Cleveland. Like Bradbury, the Vikings left guard has had a bit of a breakout season in his own right, establishing himself as a consistent player at that left guard spot next to left tackle Christian Darrisaw. As a limited participant, there’s certainly a possibility that he plays this weekend, but it’s a situation to monitor.
As for the rest of the Vikings injury report, it’s very unsurprising. Cam Dantzler is listed again with his ankle injury, but a positive development is that he was able to participate in full. After coming back off IR from the sprained ankle, he played in stretches of Week 14 vs. the Detroit Lions, but the injury clearly continued hampering him. He missed both Weeks 15 and 16. Duke Shelley got starts in his place.
Meanwhile, James Lynch has already been declared out for the final two weeks of the regular season with a shoulder injury. The hope for the defensive lineman is that he’ll be able to rehab for these final two weeks and be back in time for the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
On the other sideline, there were a whopping 10 players on the Green Bay Packers injury report for Wednesday. They are as follows:
- QB Aaron Rodgers- DNP (knee)
- WR Christian Watson- DNP (hip)
- CB Keisean Nixon- DNP (groin)
- OT Yosh Nijman- Limited (shoulder)
- RB Aaron Jones- Limited (knee/ankle)
- OL Elgton Jenkins- Limited (knee)
- S Rudy Ford- Full (wrist/knee)
- LB Krys Barnes- Full (hand)
- LT David Bakhtiari- Full (knee/abdomen)
- CB Jaire Alexander- Full (forearm)
Of course, the most notable injury for the Packers is QB Aaron Rodgers, who sat out the practice with a knee injury. If he were unable to go on Sunday, that likely changes things in a major way for the Packers. However, the injury is not considered to be major, and Rodgers said during his media availability on Wednesday that he doesn’t expect it to impact his status for Sunday. His sitting out on Wednesday seems more precautionary than anything else.
The same seems to be the case with Christian Watson, who sat out the practice with a hip injury. The rookie has really caught on in recent weeks, and he has now scored 9 TDs for the Packers in 2022. He will be a crucial part of the Packers offense on Sunday as they try to beat the Vikings.
Other notable players on this report include RB Aaron Jones, OL Elgton Jenkins, LT David Bakhtiari, and CB Jaire Alexander. The former two were limited at practice while the latter practiced in full. Bakhtiari has not played since Week 12 with his knee and abdominal injuries, but he practiced in full on Wednesday and could return to the field this weekend. Rodgers suggested as much during his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday.
Each team will release two more injury reports later in the week. Kickoff between the Vikings and Packers is scheduled for 3:25 PM CST on Sunday, January 1st.
You must be logged in to post a comment.