A second Vikings captain is headed for season-ending shoulder surgery

On Monday, Kevin O'Connell revealed that Vikings outside linebacker and top pass rusher Jonathan Greenard will undergo surgery on his injured shoulder, ending his season.

On Wednesday, O'Connell announced that Greenard isn't alone in that regard. Safety Josh Metellus will also have shoulder surgery and miss the final three games of this season. Both players will go to injured reserve.

"We've just been evaluating that shoulder, kind of on a week-in and week-out basis," O'Connell said of Metellus. "Got home late Sunday, and then through some of the medical evaluations on Monday and into yesterday, it's been determined he's gonna get his shoulder fixed as well. Just not stable enough. From a medical perspective, Tyler (Williams) and his group and our doctors feel like this is the right time to not risk possibly injuring it any more."

Despite being banged up, Metellus has started all 14 of the Vikings' games this season and rarely left the field. He's third on the defense with 86 tackles, leads the team with two interceptions, and is third with six total passes defended. Metellus is one of the Vikings' three captains on defense, along with Greenard and Harrison Smith, and can be seen giving a pump-up speech on the field before every game.

"Kind of along the same lines as JG, (Josh is) one of our captains and a guy I could not respect more for the toughness he's shown playing with that injury and just pushed through a lot this season, continuing to lead at such a high standard," O'Connell said. "Both those guys are going to be heavily involved, still, around our team in the locker room and continuing to push this team to try to finish the way we want to here."

A sixth-round pick out of Michigan in 2020, Metellus worked his way up from a special teams role and has been a full-time starter for the Vikings since Brian Flores' arrival in 2023. He signed a three-year, $36 million contract extension this past summer. Although Metellus had a solid 2025 season, he did leave something to be desired with his play in pass coverage at times. His 2023 season was an incredible one, but each of the past two have seemed to be slightly less impactful than the one before it — which is a notion backed up by his PFF grades.

Jay Ward and Theo Jackson are the two players in line to see larger roles alongside Smith over the final three games. Ward, in particular, seems poised for a big opportunity playing Metellus' uniquely versatile role. Jackson is more of a traditional deep safety.

"I think you'll see Jay Ward in a little bit more of some of those packages," O'Connell said. "Obviously we've tried to get Jay Ward on the field a little bit more in difference circumstances, at the corner position, at the safety position here and there, just by the type of season he's had and the growth that he's had. So I think it'll be a great opportunity for him to continue building upon the positive things he's been doing."

The Vikings are opening the 21-day practice window for sixth-round rookie tight end Gavin Bartholomew, who has missed his entire rookie season thus far with a back injury.

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