Christian Darrisaw Delivers New Injury Wrinkle
The Minnesota Vikings’ injury report will bring intense intrigue throughout the week, mainly because the team can’t realistically hope to defeat the Detroit Lions while playing shorthanded. And thanks to Christian Darrisaw, the franchise’s cornerstone left tackle, a new wrinkle entered the chat Monday.
Vikings offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw’s status for Week 9 is up in the air, and the man provided some content on his situation Monday.
Darrisaw revealed that his 2024 ACL tear was supposed to involve a 365-day recovery, a prognosis he evidently knocked out of the park.
Christian Darrisaw Was Supposed to Miss a Full Year with Torn ACL
Vikings fans should evidently consider themselves lucky.
Darrisaw Opens Up about Injury Status
Darrisaw is apparently well ahead of schedule.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert tweeted, “Christian Darrisaw said today that he was originally told it would take a full year — ‘365 days’ — for him to return from his torn ACL/MCL. He said things are trending in the right direction but still considers himself ahead of schedule despite leaving 3 games early.”
And Darrisaw personally stated Monday, “I came back way earlier than anyone had projected for me. I’ve played in more games than I thought I would at this point already.”
In short, Darrisaw likes where he’s at.
An Explanation for the Odd Program
A few weeks ago, the Vikings benched Darrisaw for the 4th Quarter — yes, that quarter — of the win over the Cleveland Browns. The game was tight, and Minnesota could’ve really used Darrisaw to protect Carson Wentz, who is now out for the season with a bad shoulder.
Onlookers wondered why in the hell Darrisaw was on a snap count, some 11 months removed from his ACL tear.
Well, his clarification this week answered that question. Darrisaw is back ahead of time, and the team is making sure that his workload isn’t too daunting.
Ironically, if the Vikings had abided by the “365-day recovery plan,” Darrisaw would return to the lineup this weekend or next for the first time.
A Full Go This Weekend?
Now, the important part — will Darrisaw be ready, in general, this Sunday, and will he play a full workload?
What sank Darrisaw for Week 8 was probably the short turnaround. His body had just four days to heal, and believe it or not, that’s pretty damn important when rehabbing an injury.
On the other hand — a backdoor perk of Thursday Night Football — Darrisaw has 10 days to rest, practice, and prepare for Week 9 at Detroit. It’s a good bet to assume Darrisaw will play this weekend, and somewhat safe to think he’ll play the whole game. The 10-day layoff should flip the script on his situation.
Monitor the injury report to see Darrisaw’s practice log on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Vikings Need Darrisaw’s Buddy, Too: Brian O’Neill
Brian O’Neill didn’t play at all on Thursday night. He sprained his MCL in Dublin, and at the time, many onlookers feared the worst — a tear.
Minnesota dodged the bullet with a sprain, but that didn’t mean O’Neill could be ready for the short TNF turnaround. That setup bit both Vikings offensive tackles in the buttocks.
O’Neill will have rested a full two weeks between games, an indicator that he’s more likely to play against than not.
Newsweek on Darrisaw
Newsweek‘s Max Dible opined on Darrisaw last weekend, “Kevin Seifert of ESPN asked O’Connell if the team expects more consistent availability from Darrisaw moving forward, as his snap counts have varied from week to week to this point in the season, going up and down based on how much he played the game prior. Darrisaw played around 63% the offensive snaps during his first game back against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3, then hit 100 percent against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4.”
“However, he dipped back to roughly 63% against the Cleveland Browns in Week 5 before Minnesota’s bye, returning in Week 7 to play every offensive snap against the Philadelphia Eagles. Then, of course, Darrisaw left early against the Chargers last night. Minnesota surrendered five sacks of Wentz during the team’s 37-10 loss to the Chargers in Los Angeles. When healthy, Darrisaw has been among the elite left tackles in the NFL. The Vikings recently signed him to a four-year extension worth $104 million that runs through the 2029 campaign.”
Minnesota is nearly a 10-point underdog heading into Detroit, and that point spread could balloon to a dozen or more if Darrisaw and/or O’Neill are ruled out by Sunday. The Vikings haven’t won a game in Detroit in five years.
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