Former Vikings Updates: Trae Waynes, Xavier Rhodes, Everson Griffen, and More
With training camps underway for all 32 teams and padded practices right around the corner, let's take a few minutes to go around the league and check in on some former Vikings.
Trae Waynes suffers pectoral injury, could miss two months
Some tough news first: Trae Waynes reportedly suffered a pectoral injury early in camp and could miss up to two months. He is apparently seeking a second opinion, but it doesn't sound good.
After signing a three-year, $42 million deal with the Bengals this offseason, Waynes has had a tough start to his career in Cincinnati. First, he couldn't actually sign his contract for several months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now he's dealing with a serious injury right out of the gate, just as he was getting ready to be a starter for a team that has a lot of positive momentum after drafting Joe Burrow.
Vikings fans will still be able to watch Mackensie Alexander starting for the Bengals early on in the season, and hopefully Waynes won't miss more than a handful of games.
Xavier Rhodes is finding life to be a little easier in Indianapolis
Just a few years removed from being an elite shutdown corner for Mike Zimmer and the Vikings, Xavier Rhodes is looking for a career resurgence with his new team. Rhodes flamed out in Minnesota after two awful seasons, and signed with the Colts this offseason. In speaking with Indy media recently, he revealed that he's excited about the change in defensive schemes. The Colts play a lot more zone defense than the Vikings do, which Rhodes thinks will suit his game.
“It’s so much easier, I’ll tell you that,” Rhodes said. “The defensive concept I came from is more of a man (coverage) concept, and this one is more zone – eyes to the quarterback on some plays,” Rhodes said. “That’s going to be the main difference for me, is being able to play looking at the quarterback rather than looking at the man.”
Rhodes also said that some of his struggles the last few years were the result of playing hurt at times. Check out this story for more quotes from Rhodes.
Adrian Peterson in line for more carries with Derrius Guice released
An ugly situation for a member of the Washington Football Team recently came to light, as it was reported that running back Derrius Guice had been arrested on significant domestic violence charges. To their credit, Ron Rivera and Washington acted quickly in releasing Guice.
That could mean that 35-year-old Adrian Peterson will be the clear No. 1 running back in DC. He'll get some competition from Peyton Barber and rookie Antonio Gibson, but Peterson seems like the favorite for the lion's share of the carries. The all-time Vikings great and future Hall of Famer said recently that he wants to win a Super Bowl and break Emmitt Smith's career rushing record (he's 4,140 yards away).
“I look forward to playing a couple more years, 3-4 more years, who knows, depending on how my body is feeling," Peterson said on NFL Network. Never change, All Day.
Captain Munnerlyn arrested for writing bad checks
Munnerlyn was recently arrested at Miami International Airport with a fugitive warrant for writing bad checks in Las Vegas. Uh oh. "This is a complete misunderstanding and we will clear this situation immediately," was the statement from his agent. Hopefully he's right.
The 32-year-old Munnerlyn hasn't technically retired, but he hasn't played in the NFL since 2018 and this probably doesn't help his chances of getting picked up by a team. Munnerlyn spent seven of his ten seasons in the NFL with the Panthers, but was with the Vikings from 2014-2016.
Also in Vikings/Panthers news, Stephen Weatherly is excited to get started in Carolina and feels like he has something to prove.
Seahawks interested in Everson Griffen
We're approaching the middle of August, NFL facilities are open, and Everson Griffen still doesn't have a new team. The latest news from a few days ago is that the Seahawks remain interested in signing Griffen. I've always thought that made a lot of sense as a landing spot given their need for an edge rusher and the connection with Pete Carroll, Griffen's college coach.
The Cardinals were also rumored to have interest at one point. So were the Packers, but I don't think there was ever anything real about that. Hopefully Griffen will find his new home soon, and it's still not worth ruling out the possibility that he could return to Minnesota.
Update: Griffen has signed with the Cowboys.
Linval Joseph's Chargers are on Hard Knocks
The latest season of Hard Knocks premieres on HBO on Tuesday night, with the Rams and Chargers both being featured. I have no idea if he'll get any screen time, but keep an eye out for new Chargers DT Linval Joseph.
Check out all of our Vikings 2020 season preview content right here.
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