Vikings Dealt Nasty News on Tuesday
The Minnesota Vikings won their sixth consecutive game at Soldier Field on Monday night, downing Caleb Williams and the allegedly upstart Chicago Bears 27-24.
The Vikings received some bad news on Tuesday, which casts uncertainty around the defense in Week 2 and beyond due to an injury.
New quarterback J.J. McCarthy dialed up his finest theatrics in the 4th Quarter, carrying his team to triumph in his inaugural start.
But on Tuesday, bad news dribbled out: linebacker Blake Cashman will likely hit the shelf.
A Bit of Bad News Emerges for Vikings
Cashman, no stranger to injury, will likely be out for a while.
Blake Cashman Probably Out … Weeks
Unless something suddenly changes, Cashman is trending toward an extended absence.
Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling tweeted one day after Bears-Vikings: “Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman is scheduled for an MRI on his hamstring today, but the initial expectation is that he’ll miss several weeks. Cashman pulled up after chasing Caleb Williams on a 13-yard scramble late in the third quarter, and did not return.”
The injury feels reminiscent of Justin Jefferson’s hamstring malady in 2023 when the phenom playmaker missed seven games from cover to cover.
Sadly, It’s Cashman’s Modus Operandi
Cashman has played in the NFL since 2019 and has logged one fully healthy season in seven years — 2022 as a backup linebacker with the Houston Texans. He missed three games last year, three in 2023, and battled injuries from 2019 to 2021.
In fact, when Minnesota lost Cashman last year to injury, the club began losing games after a nifty 5-0 start. Here’s to hoping that will not occur in 2025.
The Eric Wilson Show
What’s next, presumably without Cashman? Easy — probably extended run from recently reunited linebacker Eric Wilson. The Vikings signed Wilson in March away from the Green Bay Packers after Wilson began his career in the Twin Cities.
Wilson performed wonderfully on Monday on defense and special teams, so much so that head coach Kevin O’Connell claimed Minnesota may not have won over the Bears without him.
Barring a free-agent acquisition, Wilson will be the next man up until Cashman returns.
LB Alternatives
If one believes Wilson won’t remain the main alternative, these players also live in Minnesota’s roster orbit:
- Kobe King
- Austin Keys
Rookie Chaz Chambliss played a little bit of inside linebacker during the preseason, which may be an option as well. He’s an EDGE rusher by trade.
From free agency, these notable names could make sense:
- Jamin Davis
- Kamu Grugier-Hill
- Eric Kendricks
- Josey Jewell
- Jalen Reeves-Maybin
- Isaiah Simmons
- Nick Vigil
More on Cashman
Daily Norseman‘s Christopher Gates wrote about Cashman’s injury: “Cashman, the Eden Prairie native who played his college ball at the University of Minnesota, signed with the Vikings as a free agent in 2024. He suffered the injury while chasing Caleb Williams on a scramble in the fourth quarter and wound up missing most of the quarter as a result.”
“The Vikings put veteran Eric Wilson into the lineup in his spot, giving Wilson the green dot that made him the guy who relays the defensive calls from Brian Flores to the rest of the players. The Vikings struggled a bit when Cashman went out of the lineup for a few games last season, and he’s clearly an important part of the defense.”
Cashman joined the Vikings as a free agent in 2024.
Gates continued, “Hamstring injuries are a bit tricky, and it will be interesting to see whether or not the team puts him on injured reserve, a move that would force him to miss the next four games at a minimum but would allow them to fill his spot on the roster with another player.”
“Once we get some sort of word on the severity of Blake Cashman’s hamstring injury, we will bring you an update. Here’s hoping that it isn’t anything too severe.”
The next step is determining if Cashman hits injured reserve.
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