Vikings-Bears Initial Injury Report: Dantzler Returns, No Elflein Yet

Vikings rookie cornerback Cameron Dantzler returned to practice on Thursday less than two weeks after suffering a scary injury to his head/neck area in Green Bay. Dantzler was a limited participant at the team's first practice of the week, held one day later than usual because Minnesota plays on Monday night this week.

It was a very frightening situation at Lambeau Field two Sundays ago when Dantzler's head snapped back on a hit and he was taken off the field on a stretcher after laying still for several minutes. Luckily, that was likely just the team's medical staff being overly cautious. Mike Zimmer said that Dantzler actually had a chance to play last week, but he never returned to practice and was held out against the Lions while recovering from a concussion.

Dantzler being limited on Thursday is a good sign. He'll have two more practices to prove that he's good to go, and will need to pass the league's concussion protocol as well. If he's able to play against the Bears on Monday night, he would presumably step back into a starting role alongside fellow rookie Jeff Gladney and Kris Boyd.

The Vikings were without two key offensive players on Thursday: tight end Irv Smith Jr. and fullback C.J. Ham. Smith has played in every game this season but is now dealing with a groin injury. Ham was listed as having a shoulder injury, but his absence from practice is believed to be non-injury related. Of the two, I'd assume only Smith is in any danger of missing Monday's game. Tyler Conklin would see an expanded role if Smith can't go.

Pat Elflein was practicing on Thursday, per the pool report. He's been out since Week 1 with a hand injury. Based on the 21-day timetable that began when he was designated to return from injured reserve on October 26th, he needs to be activated from IR by this Sunday or his season will be over. Even if Elflein is activated, I'd imagine the Vikings will stick with Dakota Dozier and Ezra Cleveland at guard for at least one more week.

The Bears are dealing with more injuries than the Vikings are. They had ten players miss practice (although three of those were veteran rest days for Akiem Hicks, Danny Trevathan, and Jimmy Graham) and four more players practiced in a limited capacity. The most notable DNPs were David Montgomery (concussion) and Cole Kmet (groin). If Montgomery can't pass the concussion protocol in time to play, the Bears would turn to some combination of Ryan Nall and Cordarrelle Patterson at running back.

Key players like Allen Robinson and Roquan Smith were limited, but should be expected to play on MNF.

Here's the full injury report:

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