A Pair of Vikings Rookies were Injured in Week 5 Victory
K. Joudry
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It has been a rough start to the year for the Minnesota Vikings rookies. On Sunday, a couple more of the Vikings’ rookies were injured.
Following the game, Kevin O’Connell met with the media. In his opening statement, he addressed a few topics, one of which being the status of a couple of his rookies: “Just want to give you guys a quick update on a couple injuries. Ty Chandler suffered a broken thumb and he’ll be out. We’ll let you guys know timeline-wise, but we’ll get that fixed up, and then Akayleb Evans is in the concussion protocol.”
Shortly thereafter, O’Connell goes on to note that Minnesota will “follow everything from a protocol standpoint” and that the priority is Evans’ health, doing what “is in the best interest of the player.”
Coming into the game, the Vikings were without receiver Jalen Nailor and Andrew Booth Jr. We also shouldn’t forget that Lewis Cine isn’t able to play due to his injury in Week 4 against the Saints. For whatever it’s worth, O’Connell did note that Cine “did arrive back to the Twin Cities last night” and that the safety is “in great spirits.”
It’s an unfortunate reality that so many of the Vikings rookies are injured. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made 10 selections in the most recent draft. 5 are currently dealing with an injury.
Cine – his first pick – won’t be playing anymore this season. Booth – his second pick – has barely played, but hopefully he’ll get back onto the field soon.
Ed Ingram has been the starting right guard, so that’s a positive. The team’s depth has taken a recent hit, though, with the injuries to Evans, Chandler, and Nailor. Evans had even gotten some opportunity to get onto the field on defense, a notable accomplishment for a fourth-round corner. Hopefully, he’s able to get back to 100% quickly.
In most instances, the rookies were being relied upon to contribute on special teams and then be depth on their side of the ball. Even still, it’s discouraging to see so many needing to be sidelined. First, we think of the individuals and the difficulty of beginning one’s NFL career by needing to overcome being hurt. Second, we think of the team not having the players they thought they’d lean on.
All things considered, the Vikings’ roster has been fairly healthy, a trend that can hopefully continue for the rest of the year. Several of the Vikings rookies are injured, though, so we’ll be looking to see them all get back to full health.
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