The Minnesota Vikings had a pleasant Sunday on the scoreboard, but their 42-30 win over the Detroit Lions didn’t come without a price. Vikings receiver Adam Thielen made a highlight-reel touchdown grab in the first quarter, but left the game and did not return due to a hamstring injury.
The concern for this type of injury is two-fold. For starters, hamstring injuries are fickle, meaning that a slight tweak can turn into a major injury if a player rushes back too quickly. Then, there’s also the matter that the Vikings will have a short week as they host the Washington Redskins on Thursday.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, the Vikings will send Thielen in for a MRI on Monday morning, but the early prognosis is positive.
In fact, there was a slight chance that the Vikings were going to send Thielen back into the game, but decided to err on the side of caution.
Caution may be something that plays into the factors of whether Thielen plays on Thursday. The Vikings are in a good spot with a 5-2 record in the loaded NFC and by getting the Redskins at home, Minnesota could likely win the Keenum bowl without Thielen’s services.
With the Vikings also having an important two-game stretch with games at Kansas City and Dallas coming after this week’s game, it’s possible the Vikings could roll with what they have knowing it might not take much to take down Washington at home.
