The Minnesota Vikings begin a pivotal point of their schedule Sunday when they host the St. Louis Rams.
But as the Vikings opened practice for the Rams, they did so with five starters sitting out. The group of players who missed Wednesday’s practice includes some pretty big names.
Arguably none bigger than rookie receiver Stefon Diggs, who was listed as a non-participant by the team because of a hamstring injury.
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According to Pro Football Talk, the knock on Diggs coming out of the draft was his durability. He slid to the fifth round, and while he has certainly outplayed that selection with 25 catches, 419 yards and two touchdowns – Sunday’s game will be the first time in his young career that his availability is in question.
But Diggs isn’t the only promising young Vikings rookie who missed practice Wednesday.
Second-round pick Eric Kendricks also was held out because of an injury to his ribs. ESPN’s Ben Goessling notes that he did stretch on the field, but then left practice.
His college teammate and roommate Anthony Barr also did not practice; he was out because of a low back injury.
Center Joe Berger sat out with a chest injury and defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd continued recovering from surgery to remove cartilage from his knee, but did run during part of practice.
Defensive linemen Justin Trattou (ankle), Everson Griffen (neck) and Tom Johnson (knee) along with linebacker Audie Cole (finger) were all listed as limited participants.
