Vikings Injury Report vs. Bears: Adam Thielen, Christian Darrisaw, Eric Kendricks
The Vikings have a much shorter injury report to start the week than we've seen in a while, but they still have three key players whose statuses are up in the air ahead of Monday night's must-win game in Chicago.
Wide receiver Adam Thielen suffered a high-ankle sprain on the first series against Detroit a couple weeks ago, causing him to miss the rest of that game and the Steelers game four days later. The Vikings hope Thielen will be able to play on Monday night, but he didn't practice at all on Thursday, so he's facing an uphill battle to be cleared.
With Dede Westbrook and Dan Chisena on the COVID list, the Vikings could be pretty thin at receiver on Monday. They signed free agents Damion Ratley and Darrius Shepherd to the practice squad this week for depth purposes and may have to elevate one for the game.
"We’re still hopeful that Adam can play," Mike Zimmer said. "K.J.’s done a nice job this year. I think [Ihmir] Smith-Marsette might be in the mix this week, so we’ll just see where we are as we get closer toward the end of the week."
Also not practicing for the Vikings on Thursday was linebacker Eric Kendricks, who is one of the team's best and most important players. He missed the Lions game with a biceps injury, but his absence at practice was unrelated to that. It's listed as a "low back" injury for Kendricks. Hopefully that's nothing serious.
It'll be important to track Thielen and Kendricks' status on Friday and especially Saturday, when the final injury report will be released.
Update: Thielen was again a DNP on Friday, suggesting he's unlikely to play in this game. Kendricks returned to practice in a limited capacity, putting him on track to play.
In better news, rookie left tackle Christian Darrisaw was back at practice on Thursday in a limited capacity. He has missed the past two games with an ankle injury, but appears to be on track to return on Monday night for a big matchup with Bears edge rusher Robert Quinn (Khalil Mack is on IR). Oli Udoh moved from right guard to left tackle for the past couple games and the results weren't great.
If Darrisaw is back, the Vikings would have their optimal offensive line. From left to right: Darrisaw, Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradbury, Mason Cole, and Brian O'Neill. Everyone outside of Udoh has played well over the past two games.
Dalvin Cook and Camryn Bynum were full participants. Cook said he's not dealing with any pain in his shoulder.
"I'm not dealing with no lingering soreness or pain or nothing like that," Cook said. "It's just time to play ball now."
The Bears, on the other hand, are dealing with all sorts of injuries, illnesses, and COVID problems.
In addition to all the players on that injury report, they've got 12 players and all three of their coordinators on the COVID list right now.
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