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The Minnesota Vikings dropped to 6-5 on Sunday night, losing to the hot Denver Broncos on the road by a point.
Minnesota has previously won five consecutive games, earning a temporary playoff spot and totally turning a once depressing season around without Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson.
Next, the Vikings host the Chicago Bears, a team it has defeated five times in a row, on Monday Night Football. And to prepare for that contest, the purple team fired off two roster moves to start the week.
Defensive lineman Dean Lowry tore a pectoral muscle and will visit IR. He had played 237 defensive snaps to date in 2023, or 32.5%, and Minnesota will now lean on other linemen like Khyiris Tonga, Jaquelin Roy, T.J. Smith, or Sheldon Day at his position.
Lowry joined the Vikings back in March, a free-agent addition after Dalvin Tomlison skeddaled to the Cleveland Browns. Previously a Green Bay Packer, Lowry joined the rival Vikings and performed decently in the first 11 games. He played in nine contests, starting four, and tallied a 47.4 Pro Football Focus grade.
VikingsTerritory‘s Janik Eckardt tweeted about Lowry’s IR outlook, “I know Vikings Twitter isn’t a fan of Lowry because the man never does anything splashy (We knew that coming in, that’s who he is), but he did a lot of important things that don’t show up in the stat sheets or on television.”
Meanwhile, if the Vikings are interested in free-agent replacements, men like Akiem Hicks, Ndamukong Suh, and Michael Brockers are available on the open market, and Minnesota has about $7.3 million in cap space.
Conversely, IR bad news be damned, offensive guard Chris Reed is back and adds depth to Minnesota’s offensive line.
He took over Garrett Bradbury last year at center — he’s versatile — when injuries arose. It took a game for Reed to find his footing, but after that, he was serviceable in the reservist role.
At the trade deadline in October, Minnesota shipped starting guard Ezra Cleveland to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 6th-Round draft pick, knowing Reed would return before too long for OG depth. Now, that time has arrived.
Reed has experienced regular season action in his eight-season NFL career with the Jaguars, Panthers, Dolphins, Colts, and Vikings — 68 total games played and 30 starts.
His return is noteworthy because he would become the next man up if something happened injury-wise to Ed Ingram or Dalton Risner. The Vikings also employ Blake Brandel as a backup guard.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.