Vikings Confirm Running Back Dalvin Cook Has a Torn ACL
On Monday, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said rookie running back Dalvin Cook is done for the season with a torn ACL.
Cook left Sunday's game against the Lions in the third quarter after going down with a non-contact injury. He was able to walk back to the locker room under his own power.
Through four games, Cook was third in the league with 354 rushing yards on 74 carries, trailing only Kareem Hunt and Todd Gurley. Cook, a second-round pick in the 2017 draft from Florida State, was the heart of Minnesota's rushing attack with more than 300 yards more than the next closest rusher.
With Cook done for the year, the Vikings have running backs Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon to take over the running game. Murray is in his fifth season, and his first in Minnesota. He has just 38 yards on 14 carries through four games, but over his last two seasons in Oakland he rushed for a combined 1,854 yards and 18 touchdowns.
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McKinnon is in his fourth season, all with the Vikings. In two of the first three seasons he was able to rush for more than 500 yards, but he has just four career rushing touchdowns.
Minnesota heads to Chicago for a game against the Bears next week, and then the Vikings host the Packers and Ravens. Sitting at 2-2, the Vikings will have to get creative to improve on their 17th ranked rushing attack now that they are without their top rusher.
