Miami Dolphins linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel suffered a broken nose Sunday against the Jets but by Monday, he'd been patched up.© HAL HABIB / The Palm Beach Post / USA TODAY NETWORK
Minnesota Vikings fans seemed to learn recently that new outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel was injured at the end of the 2023 regular season.
In fact, nearly every Miami Dolphins pass rusher fell injured right before the postseason last year, and Van Ginkel wasn’t excluded. Two months later, he signed with the Vikings and will begin his career’s second chapter in the NFC North.
However, he’s recovering from a Lisfranc injury, and some folks seem to believe that is a pathway to problems in 2024. The matter became front-and-center recently, courtesy of The Athletic. Alec Lewis wrote about the injury statuses of T.J. Hockenson and Van Ginkel, “Both Hockenson and Van Ginkel jogged on ancillary practice fields during mandatory minicamp at the TCO Performance Center. Hockenson is rehabbing a torn ACL and MCL, suffered in Week 16, while Van Ginkel is returning from a Lisfranc foot injury, which occurred in January.”
Lewis added, “O’Connell has been open about both players. The Vikings don’t want to rush either player back, and they’d prefer a longer span of health over a quicker return. The early portions of training camp should provide indications as to whether either player could end up on the PUP list.”
Under this leadership regime, this brand of Vikings has a documented history of “taking it easy” with injury recoveries, disallowing players from rushing back to action. In that vein, Van Ginkel may be no different.
However, the Van Ginkel recovery is a different beast for two reasons. Foremost, Hockenson’s injury, the ACL tear, is grimmer than a Lisfranc malady, and folks should expect Hockenson to miss the first part of 2024. Van Ginkel isn’t necessarily like that. The average recovery time for a Lisfranc injury is six months or so without surgery, and from the beginning in Miami, Van Ginkel targeted training camp as his go-live date.
That’s six months — on the nose.
Long story short, Van Ginkel isn’t facing a Hockensonian recovery time. This is different.
Secondarily, the Vikings suddenly have EDGE depth, arguably for the first time in about eight or nine years. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah drafted Dallas Turner in April, and if Van Ginkel did miss the start of the 2024 season, who really cares?
This is Minnesota’s outside linebacker group as of July 3rd:
Because Turner now works for the Vikings, there should be no panic about Van Ginkel. The offseason was navigated to boost this position, unlike last year when the EDGE group was thinner.
Not every injury ends up like Marcus Davenport in 2023. No need to panic about Van Ginkel or to dumbfoundingly liken him to Davenport. Two different humans.
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.