Oct 1, 2023; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers fans in the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports.
Former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, now a member of the Carolina Panthers, hauled a touchdown pass out of the sky Sunday, September 22nd, at the Las Vegas Raiders and injured his hamstring.
The same thing happened in October 2019 with the Vikings on a touchdown transaction when Thielen suffered a high ankle sprain and missed six games.
But Thielen is back or at least close to it, according to ESPN. Adam Schefter tweeted Tuesday, “Panthers activated wide receiver Adam Thielen, at the end of his 21-day practice window to return from injured reserve. Thielen has missed the last seven games after suffering a hamstring injury while scoring a touchdown in the Week 3 win in Las Vegas.”
Back in Week 3, Thielen had found instant chemistry with Dalton — a connection most of the NFL world and fantasy football community foresaw — but caught the touchdown and left the game with the hamstring injury in the 2nd Quarter. He had produced 3 receptions for 40 yards to that point in that game.
He’ll return to a Panthers team with sudden momentum, once again led by second-year passer Bryce Young. Young and Thielen hadn’t developed much rapport until Thielen’s injury, but perhaps things will be different this time.
Meanwhile, Carolina has won two straight games, chipping off the rival New Orleans Saints in Week 9 and beating the New York Giants in Germany last weekend. It is probably too far gone in the loss column — 3-7 — to make a last-minute playoff push, but the losing ways have ended for now.
Thielen also returns to a Panthers WR corps that looks markedly different than when he left. Carolina traded Diontae Johnson to the Baltimore Ravens and Jonathan Mingo to the Dallas Cowboys before last week’s deadline, so Thielen, in theory, should get plenty of targets.
These are the Panthers’ wideouts upon Thielen’s return:
The Thielen biography is everywhere and beloved, but the Minnesotan rose to power late in the 2015 season and clawed his way up Minnesota’s depth chart to WR1 by 2016. Thielen earned instant chemistry with then-QB1 Sam Bradford and took off as a household name in Minnesota and later the country.
An undrafted free agent in 2013, Thielen was “supposed to be” just a special teams guy, but he used the following three seasons to prove legitimacy. He tallied 967 receiving yards in 2016 — while starting 10 games — and truly blossomed as the real deal in 2017, with 91 receptions for 1,276 yards and 4 touchdowns. Thielen and storybook passer Case Keenum created folkloric harmony, and Minnesota damn near won a Super Bowl in a season riddled by injuries — that it had no business even making the playoffs.
Thielen is the Vikings third-leading receiver in catches (534), third in receiving touchdowns (55), and fourth in receiving yards (6,682) throughout franchise history.
Carolina has a bye this week but will face the Kansas City Chiefs on November 24th, a few days before Thanksgiving.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.