Vikings TE Irv Smith Jr. Has Thumb Surgery, Expected to Be Ready for Opener
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Vikings No. 1 tight end Irv Smith Jr. underwent thumb surgery on Tuesday to fix a thumb injury he sustained in practice yesterday, head coach Kevin O'Connell announced. O'Connell said he expects Smith to be ready for Week 1 of the regular season, which is less than six weeks away (September 11th against the Packers).
Smith left Monday's practice early, walking off the field under his own power while talking to trainers. He did not return. According to O'Connell, after consulting with executive director of player health and performance Tyler Williams and head athletic trainer Uriah Myrie, the decision was made to fix Smith's thumb injury right away via surgery. In theory, fixing it now will allow Smith to make a quick recovery.
"We still feel very strongly about our process to get him back and hopefully have him, barring any setbacks, available for that opener," O'Connell said.
Regardless, Smith will now be out from practices indefinitely and will obviously not play in any of the Vikings' three preseason games.
This is another tough blow for Smith, even if he could still return for Week 1. The fourth-year tight end missed all of the 2021 season with a meniscus injury that required surgery after getting hurt in a preseason game last August. Now he has to wait until his thumb recovers enough that catching passes and blocking are not issues.
Without Smith, the Vikings are down to Johnny Mundt, Zach Davidson, Ben Ellefson, rookie Nick Muse, and Shaun Beyer at tight end. That group has a combined 11 regular season receptions in the NFL; Mundt has ten in five seasons and Ellefson has one in two seasons.
Mundt, who was brought over from the Rams this offseason, becomes the team's top tight end in Smith's absence. Davidson is next in line as a receiving threat at the position, while Ellefson is regarded as a strong blocker.
"Anytime someone’s dinged up — we all feel for Irv with how hard he’s worked in the offseason to get to where he’s at — but it just gives other guys opportunities to get in there and show what they can do," offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. "We’re excited about obviously bringing Johnny Mundt here; Ben Ellefson has had a nice camp thus far; Zach Davidson is a talented guy that’s getting better every day. We signed Shaun Beyer. So, we’ve got a big group of guys in there that are kind of vying for roles, and it will be good for them to get some more reps and see kind of how that plays out."
In other injury news, the Vikings are listing second-year running back Kene Nwangwu as day to day with a soft-tissue leg injury. They're going to be cautious with him, per O'Connell, especially because he missed the start of his rookie season with a leg injury.
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