Cam Akers is out for the season. Christian Darrisaw, T.J. Hockenson and Brian Asamoah will likley be limited in practice this week with injuries, and the status of K.J. Osborn and Jaren Hall is unknown as they go through the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Needless to say, the Minnesota Vikings have big-time injury concerns ahead of their critical Week 10 game this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
“Cam Akers, it was confirmed this morning via an MRI, he did rupture his Achilles,” said head coach Kevin O’Connell. “We’re going to be with him in every step of the way in the recovery from this. Something he’s been through before and came back remarkably fast from that.”
Akers is out for the season and that leaves running back snaps for Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler, and perhaps Kene Nwangwu.
O’Connell said Darrisaw (groin) and Asamoah (ankle) will “probably be limited throughout the week and we’ll see how they progress, hopefully to get into a place where we have both those guys.”
He’s also hopeful that Hockenson, his star tight end who took a beating against Atlanta, will be limited throughout the week with ribs/mid-section injuries.
“He’ll be limited throughout the week but hopefully we can progress him to have him available as well,” O’Connell said.
What about Justin Jefferson? His 21-day window to be activated from injured reserve could come Wednesday.
“We’re working through that. Justin has done a phenomenal job in his rehab,” said O’Connell. “I’ll give you guys an update on Wednesday as far as he’s at. We’re still working through that but it’s possible we will open up his window on Wednesday, but we’re going to do what’s best for Justin and make sure we’re doing everything responsibly to make sure that when Justin does return he can be the Justin Jefferson that we all know and expect to see out there.”
Both Hall and Osborn suffered concussions against the Falcons.
“Don’t want to get into the details, symptoms and all those things. We’ll allow the medical professionals to help kind of guide the week for those guys, and what their availability looks like moving forward will totally be deemed as far as progressing through that protocol and what’s in their best interest medically,” the coach explained.
Josh Dobbs is the unquestioned starter after his performance against Atlanta but the backup for Sunday’s game against the Saints is up in the air. If Hall is cleared, he could be the backup. Nick Mullens could be activated but the Vikings have yet to open the 21-day window for him to return from injured reserve, where he’s spent the last four weeks because of a back injury.
Another option is veteran Sean Mannion, who would need to be activated from the practice squad.
