Vikings-Panthers Thursday Injury Report: Dalvin Cook Practices in Full, Christian McCaffrey DNP

Heading into a huge matchup this Sunday that could go a long way in making or breaking both teams' playoff hopes, the superstar running backs for the Vikings and Panthers appear to be going in opposite directions with their injury situations.

Dalvin Cook was a full participant in practice on Thursday for the first time since injuring his ankle in Arizona back in Week 2. That puts him on track to play this week for just the fourth time in six games. Cook has said that whether or not he plays is about pain management, making sure he can be his full explosive self, and avoiding the risk of re-injury as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Christian McCaffrey was supposed to return this week after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury, but he didn't practice at all on Thursday after being limited on Wednesday, which is usually a bad sign. The Panthers are 3-0 with McCaffrey and 0-2 without him, and regardless of how much of that is correlation vs. causation, it would be a big loss for their offense to be without its best player. The Vikings also avoided McCaffrey last year when these two teams played in Minneapolis, as he was injured for that game.

In other notable injury news, neither Justin Jefferson (ankle) nor Adam Thielen (foot) has practiced this week. Thielen hasn't talked to reporters this week, but Jefferson said Thursday that he'll be "good to go" for Sunday despite a sore ankle. We'll find out soon enough if he was being honest or optimistic. Both receivers getting at least a limited session in on Friday would be big.

Also not practicing for the Vikings on Thursday were defensive tackle Michael Pierce (elbow), who seems unlikely to play for a second straight week, and tight end Ben Ellefson (knee). Anthony Barr and Alexander Mattison were limited in practice after missing Wednesday's session, which means they're trending in the right direction to be available. CB Cameron Dantzler came off the Reserve/COVID list on Thursday.

For the Panthers, top linebacker Shaq Thompson hasn't practiced this week with a foot injury and won't play on Sunday. That's a big loss for Carolina's talented defense. Starting cornerback C.J. Henderson and backup linebacker Kamal Martin were both limited.

Here's the full injury report for both teams from Thursday. Check back tomorrow for the final report with official game designations (playing, questionable, or out).

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