Vikings Place Akayleb Evans on IR, Cameron Dantzler Returns to Practice

The Vikings made a flurry of injury-related roster moves on Wednesday. They placed CB Akayleb Evans and TE Ben Ellefson on injured reserve, and designated CB Cameron Dantzler and RB Ty Chandler to return to practice from IR.

Evans suffered his third concussion of the year in Sunday's win over the Jets. He tweeted after the game that he was feeling good, then tweeted (and deleted) "news to me" when Kevin O'Connell ruled him out for this week's game. Now the rookie is on IR and will miss at least the next four games, with the possibility of returning for the regular season finale in Chicago on January 8th.

Dantzler has missed the last four games with an ankle injury, and there's a good chance he'll return to the starting lineup in Detroit this week. If not, Duke Shelley would get another start at cornerback.

Ellefson has had an injury-marred season. He went on IR two months ago with a groin injury, was designated to return to practice a month ago, and was then activated prior to last week's game, but he was inactive on Sunday. Now he's going to have a procedure on his groin injury, O'Connell said, and will miss at least the next four games. It's possible Ellefson will be done for the season.

Chandler has been on IR for nearly two months with a broken thumb. Designating him to return to practice opens his 21-day window to be activated. If and when he plays this season, it'll presumably be only on special teams, as the rookie is the Vikings' No. 4 running back.

Lastly, Christian Darrisaw remains in the concussion protocol but will practice this week and has a chance to play on Sunday.

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