More Bad News on the Jordan Addison Front
The Minnesota Vikings are practicing together with the Tennessee Titans this week. Head coach Kevin O’Connell is putting a lot of focus on those practice sessions as he is using them to get his starters ready for the regular season with a limited injury risk compared to preseason games. Still, injuries can happen at all times, and both the Titans and the Vikings lost a receiver.
More Bad News on the Jordan Addison Front
Titans sophomore wideout Treylon Burks, who has been great in training camp, came down with a catch but hobbled and grabbed his calf or knee area. He was ultimately carted off, but the severity is unknown at this point.
The Vikings, meanwhile, lost Jordan Addison, their first-round pick, in a two-minute drill earlier in the week, and he didn’t participate on Wednesday because of a concussion.
O’Connell reported that Addison has “light symptoms” of a concussion and will miss some time, including the preseason game against the Titans on Saturday. He expects Addison to “potentially return” to practice on Monday. The head coach added that there is “no reason to risk anything,” and he is right about that.
Akayleb Evans and Christian Darrisaw both struggled with two separate concussions last season, and they may not have been completely healthy when they returned, although there are strict rules in place. Of course, diagnosing head injuries, especially those impacting the brain, are hard to diagnose.
Injuries, including concussions, can happen in football, no matter how much the teams try to avoid them during practices and games, but it is unfortunate for Addison, who has turned heads in training camp and is performing as advertised.
The first-rounder is expected to slide in with Justin Jefferson and K.J. Osborn in three-wideout sets. How the pecking order between him and Osborn looks remains to be seen. In his first preseason contest, Addison recorded one catch for 22 yards and had a great toe-drag reception that was ruled incomplete but would’ve probably been overturned had O’Connell thrown the challenge flag.
Minnesota’s offense needs Addison to work out and contribute in his rookie campaign as he is supposed to replace the departed Adam Thielen and is part of a scary receiving group for quarterback Kirk Cousins that can lead the team once again to the NFC North crown and the playoffs, that time hopefully with a better result.
Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips has been pleased with his rookie and praised him earlier in the week: “He does have great body control, he is as advertised. He has just got a kind of knack, he understands how to work edges on guys, how to separate, his body control in transition is really impressive, and then the way he moves towards the ball. Some guys you see, I had Jordan Reed in Washington [who was] very similar as far as the hands when they’re just playing catch and not even thinking about it and they catch the ball naturally. He’s got a natural way of reaching out and catching the ball away from his frame.”
Without Addison and Jalen Nailor at practice, it was Jalen Reagor who received some run with the first team after his unexpected big game in the preseason opener. He has a lot to lose after his disappointing first three seasons in his career, but he is apparently doing a better job this year.
Addison has roughly three-and-a-half weeks to get ready for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Week 1 contest.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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