Vikings WR Bisi Johnson Suffers Torn ACL, Will Miss Second Straight Season
Vikings wide receiver Bisi Johnson will miss a second consecutive season after suffering another torn ACL, Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune confirmed on Sunday. While playing on the punt team during Saturday night's preseason finale against the Broncos, Johnson tore the ACL other than the one he tore a little over a year ago.
It's a brutal break for the 2019 seventh-round pick, who developed into a solid player during his first two seasons. After going through all of the arduous work to recover from his first ACL injury, he now has to repeat that process with his other knee.
Johnson was taken 247th overall out of Colorado State three years ago. He quickly emerged and played in all 16 games as a rookie, starting six of them in place of an injured Adam Thielen. Johnson caught 31 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns that season, proving himself to be a reliable short-yardage target for Kirk Cousins.
In 2020, Johnson's role shrunk, as he finished eighth on the team with just 14 receptions. Then, during a training camp practice last summer, he tore his ACL and missed the entire 2021 campaign.
Heading into his fourth season — and the final year of his rookie contract — Johnson was poised to be the Vikings' No. 4 or 5 receiver in a new, potentially more pass-heavy offense. Now he'll work to get healthy again before hitting free agency next spring.
With Johnson out for the year, the Vikings' depth at receiver is a question mark behind their top four of Justin Jefferson, Thielen, K.J. Osborn, and Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Sixth-round rookie Jalen Nailor seems likely to make the team, and a sixth spot on the active roster could now be open for Trishton Jackson, Myron Mitchell, or Dan Chisena.
In other Vikings injury news, Goessling reports that T.Y. McGill will miss a week or two with an ankle injury and Troy Dye has a bruise on his foot that shouldn't affect his status for the start of the regular season.
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