Kevin O’Connell Gives Vague Injury Update on Minnesota Vikings Star
Injuries have been one of the biggest storylines of the season for the Minnesota Vikings.
What started out as a year to be excited as Vikings fans for the growth of J.J. McCarthy, and what this team can do come playoff time quickly turned sour as injuries began to pile up on all parts of the team.
On Sunday, another Minnesota Vikings star was unable to complete the game when Jonathan Greenard went down with a shoulder injury during the team’s fifth loss of the season, this time coming at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens.
Kevin O’Connell Updates Vikings Fans on Star’s Health
Kevin O’Connell gave a somewhat vague update on Greenard after the game, not revealing too much about what the injury might be during his postgame press conference.
“Jonathan Greenard did have a left shoulder injury. He’ll get assessed later today and into tomorrow, but I’ll be able to give you guys an update on that,” O’Connell said.
The injury comes in the midst of what’s been a somewhat frustrating season for Greenard after his breakout year during his first season with the Vikings in 2024. Greenard has totaled just two sacks on the year despite being in the mix for sacks virtually every single week that simply don’t come through. It’s further emphasized by his 33 QB pressures coming into Sunday’s game, which ranked 17th among edge rushers.
Coming off a 2024 campaign in which he put up 12 sacks, it’s certainly a step back for the Pro Bowler.
Most frustrating about this injury though is that it comes just a week after Andrew Van Ginkel was finally able to return to the field after missing extensive time early in the season because of his own injury troubles.
Van Ginkel played in Week 1, totaled eight snaps in Week 3, and finally completed a full game in Week 9 when the Vikings toppled the Detroit Lions on the road.
Now, if Greenard were to miss time with his latest injury, the Vikings would be back down to just one of their two star outside linebackers once again. Adding more salt to the wound, Dallas Turner simply has not been able to be very productive to this point when he has gotten starting chances of his own in what was supposed to be a breakout year for the young pass rusher.
Ultimately, though, Vikings fans will be forced to wait to get a clearer update on Greenard. Hopefully, he will be back on the field when Minnesota hosts the Chicago Bears in Week 11.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.
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