Vikings Face a Flat Out Ridiculous Scenario
Injuries have dominated most Minnesota Vikings storylines in 2025, and heading into Thursday Night Football, a meeting with the Los Angeles Chargers, the club’s two starting offensive tackles are questionable to play.
With Thursday Night Football just hours away, the Vikings face a bizarre injury situation that folks will just hope is resolved with a nothingburger.
Indeed, Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill are “maybes” for Week 8, making life harder for, well, everyone, except the Chargers.
Vikings Starting OTs Questionable for TNF
You can’t make it up.
Christian Darrisaw a Maybe against Chargers
Darrisaw just returned to a full snap count in Week 7 when his team lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. The game prior, in London against the Cleveland Browns, Darrisaw actually sat out the 4th Quarter, fulfilling a previously unannounced pitch count created by the Vikings’ training and coaching staff.
Well, with a short turnaround to Thursday Night Football, Darrisaw is evidently still in a ginger territory with his torn ACL recovery. It’s worth noting, too, that Week 8 last year at Los Angeles is where Darrisaw suffered the torn ACL, so there’s that paranoia.
CBS Sports noted Wednesday, “Christian Darrisaw (knee) is listed as questionable ahead of Thursday’s game against the Chargers, Craig Peters of the Vikings’ official site reports. Darrisaw made his season debut in Week 7 against Cincinnati after recovering from torn ACL and MCL injuries.”
“He wasn’t on the injury report until Wednesday, when he did not practice. It’s possible the team was just limiting his reps, but Darrisaw’s status is now unclear.”
This creates a TNF mystery for arguably the Vikings’ second-best player.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert tweeted about Darrisaw’s status this week, “Uh oh. The Vikings added Christian Darrisaw to their injury report Wednesday and are calling him questionable for Thursday night’s game in Los Angeles. The team didn’t practice all week — just walk-throughs — so it’s not immediately clear what’s up. C.J. Ham (hand) is also out.”
“Christian Darrisaw took regularly scheduled days off from practice before the bye and took himself out of the Browns game as he worked back from his ACL/MCL injury. But he played every snap vs. Eagles. If this were a rest day, the report would have said ‘not injury related.'”
Brian O’Neill DNP, DNP, Limited at Practice
Not one — but two — Vikings offensive tackles are playing a waiting game for Week 8.
O’Neill, too, is questionable. Like Darrsiaw, O’Neill played the entire game versus the Eagles, but coming off a sprained MCL, O’Neill didn’t practice on Monday or Tuesday and was limited on Wednesday.
FantasyPros on O’Neill: “Brian O’Neill (knee) is questionable for Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Minnesota’s offensive line may be weaker than usual on Thursday night, as O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw (knee) are both considered questionable to play against the Chargers. If either of them are ruled out, that will negatively impact Carson Wentz and Jordan Mason in this matchup.”
Short Weeks Are Brutal
If Minnesota did not play on a Thursday this week, the statuses for Darrisaw and O’Neill would likely be moot. That is — a full week’s build-up to Sunday might absolve the pair from any injury suspense whatsoever.
After all, nobody at all mentioned injuries to Darrisaw or O’Neill after Sunday’s game. This thing is about wear and tear and the four-day trek to TNF, not a seven-dayer to Sunday.
The optimistic hope is that the injury report just played it safe, and Darrisaw + O’Neill will be ready by showtime. Until then, it’s a waiting game.
Justin Skule and Walter Rouse?
… a waiting game that would toss Skule and/or Rouse into the starting lineup.
Skule has played frequently in 2025 due to existing Darrisaw and O’Neill injuries. The veteran tackle has seen the field for 221 snaps — or 71%. Rouse, on the other hand, has played 48 snaps and notably held his own a few times against Browns future Hall of Famer Myles Garrett.
While both men have performed decently, all things considered, in reserve duty, playing both against the Chargers could be dicey. Skule has a 58.9 Pro Football Focus grade this season; Rouse is at 54.1.
More on Darrisaw
A to Z Sports‘ Tyler Forness noted on Darrisaw, “It was a surprise to see Darrisaw added to the injury report, and having that appear sent a wave of panic to the fanbase. It essentially boils down to maintenance on the knee.”
“It’s not crazy that Darrisaw could miss this game due to some excess swelling in the knee, which is what likely happened here. It wouldn’t be the biggest deal to see Darrisaw miss the game because it’s on a short week and it’s about the rest of the season, not just a one game sample size.”
It’s also worth mentioning that the Chargers will be without offensive tackle Rashawn Slater, who is out for the season.
“If he doesn’t play, it will likely be Justin Skule that gets the nod. He has started games at both left and right tackle. It should be Blake Brandel, but the Vikings haven’t been too willing to kick him back outside after moving him inside to guard last season,” Forness added.
“Thursday afternoon will tell us more about what Darrisaw’s status will be, and it could be crucial in deciding who wins the game.”
Darrisaw and O’Neill’s status should be determined about 90 minutes before kickoff.
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