Danielle Hunter Misses Practice, Appears Unlikely to Play Sunday Against Packers
UPDATE: Hunter has been placed on IR, meaning he'll miss at least three games. Click here for more details.
The original story from earlier Wednesday afternoon is below.
It's looking more and more likely that the Vikings will be without star defensive end Danielle Hunter for their season opener against the Packers on Sunday.
Hunter didn't practice on Wednesday, continuing an absence of nearly a month due to an undisclosed injury. According to pool reporter Courtney Cronin, all Hunter did was some isolated rehab work.
The last time Hunter participated in practice was back on August 14th, which was the first full-squad session of training camp for the Vikings. Since then, all Mike Zimmer has said about the injury is that it's a "little tweak."
Hunter has shown some signs of progression, going from being complete absent at practice to stretching and doing rehab work. The Vikings have remained publicly optimistic about his return, with Zimmer saying on Monday that he "expects" Hunter to be out there against the Packers.
However, it appears all but certain that Hunter won't play in Week 1 as the team continues to be cautious with his injury. According to NFL Network, Hunter's status for Sunday is "very much in doubt."
Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks may have unintentionally revealed the team's plans to keep Hunter out against the Packers during a virtual press conference Wednesday morning.
"Danielle, he brings a whole other type of game in and it’s going to be hard to replace a guy like that," Kendricks said. "But we have guys who are hungry and want to step up too."
We'll finally learn some detail about the nature of Hunter's mysterious injury when the team's first injury report of the season comes out this afternoon.
The good news is that the Vikings must think Hunter is fairly close to returning, even if it won't be in Week 1. If they thought he would need to miss extended time, they would've likely put him on injured reserve (making him eligible to return after three games) or the PUP list (six games).
"To reiterate what I’ve been told throughout the last 2 weeks, the Vikings are taking a precautionary approach with Hunter," Cronin tweeted. "Sources told me they do not believe this injury will make him miss ample time, but if he’s out for the Green Bay game, it’s due to precautionary measure."
If Hunter doesn't play on Sunday, the Vikings will still have one Pro Bowl edge rusher in Yannick Ngakoue, who they acquired from the Jaguars on August 30. They will presumably turn to Ifeadi Odenigbo to step up and replace Hunter in the starting lineup. Odenigbo had seven sacks last season in a rotational role and was in line to start before the Ngakoue trade.
Still, this would be a major blow for the Vikings in a crucial divisional matchup. Hunter is a superstar who became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 50 career sacks. He has recorded a sack in three of his last four games against the Packers, including both matchups in 2019.
Ngakoue figures to line up at right defensive end against Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari. If Hunter can't go, it'll be Odenigbo against either Billy Turner or Rick Wagner at right tackle.
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