With Defensive Line Absences Mounting, Vikings Signing DE Tashawn Bower
With injuries and other situations rapidly depleting the Vikings' defensive line, they desperately needed to add some depth there. So they're bringing back an old friend in DE Tashawn Bower, signing him from the Patriots' practice squad to their active 53-man roster. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero broke the news.
The Vikings' defensive line to begin this season consisted of Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen on the edge and Michael Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson at defensive tackle. They'll almost certainly be without all four players for Sunday's game against the 49ers. Hunter (torn pec) is out for the season, while Pierce (elbow) is also on injured reserve. Tomlinson was added to the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday and is out for Sunday.
The most serious situation — which remains ongoing — is that of Griffen, who is in the midst of a mental health crisis. Griffen posted multiple times on Instagram in the early hours of Wednesday morning, claiming people were at his house in Minnetrista trying to kill him. He posted and later deleted a video of him holding a gun that he says Dalvin Cook helped him purchase. Griffen — who dealt with major mental health issues in 2018 that led to similar incidents — reportedly fired the gun once (no one was injured) and called the police, but refused to come out when authorities showed up. He remains in a standoff with law enforcement officials and Vikings team psychologists at his house, as of Wednesday afternoon.
Everything else is secondary to concerns about Griffen's health and well-being, but the Vikings still have a huge game to prepare for on Sunday. They're headed out west to take on the red-hot 49ers in a battle of 5-5 teams who will be competing for a wild card spot in the NFC playoffs down the stretch of this season.
Right now, the Vikings' defensive line is extremely thin. They have D.J. Wonnum, Kenny Willekes, Patrick Jones II, and Eddie Yarbrough at defensive end, and Sheldon Richardson, Armon Watts, and James Lynch at defensive tackle. They also have a couple practice squad DTs who could be elevated.
Adding Bower gives them a fifth DE who has experience in Mike Zimmer's defense. The 6'5", 250-pound pass rusher signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of LSU in 2017. He made the 53-man roster as a rookie and spent most of the next three years with the Vikings, playing 63 defensive snaps across seven games. Bower signed with the Patriots in 2019 and played a career-high 137 snaps for them last season. He has appeared in two games this season, playing in garbage time.
Bower has two career sacks: one with the Vikings in 2017 and one with the Patriots in 2021.
According to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press, Bower is expected to be in Minnesota in time to practice on Thursday.
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