Some interesting developments…
The Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions have put out their final injury reports in advance of Sunday’s showdown, and there are a couple interesting developments.
Minnesota Vikings
- LB Blake Cashman, Toe, DNP (did not practice), OUT
- CB Akayleb Evans, Hip, DNP, OUT
- OLB Patrick Jones II, Shoulder, FP (full participant), QUESTIONABLE
- RB Aaron Jones, Hamstring, LP (limited participant), QUESTIONABLE
- DT Harrison Phillips, Shoulder, FP, QUESTIONABLE
- TE T.J. Hockenson, Knee, LP, QUESTIONABLE
- G Dalton Risner, Back, LP, QUESTIONABLE
Harrison Smith and Stephon Gilmore were added to the injury report on Friday with veteran rest days, but no injury designation meaning they will play on Sunday.
Josh Oliver and Theo Jackson had been on the injury list with wrist/hand injury, but no designation for Sunday’s game, meaning they will play on Sunday as well.
Harrison Phillips and Patrick Jones were both full participants in Friday’s practice, and I would be surprised if either did not play on Sunday.
Both T.J. Hockenson and Dalton Risner are designated to return from IR, and Kevin O’Connell said in his Friday press conference that they will talk about making status changes for them- which seems likely- which would require corresponding releases from the 53-man roster.
Kevin O’Connell was asked regarding Risner if there would be any change to the starting offensive line, and KOC said they would be discussing that, which leaves the door open for Risner potentially replacing Ed Ingram at right guard. That may be a misinterpretation of KOC’s comment, but he had the opportunity to say Risner’s potential addition to the active roster would not result in any changes to the starting offensive line, but he did not do so.
Vikings *could* activate OL Dalton Risner and start him at RG. Asked O’Connell if the OL will remain intact. O’Connell: “As of right now, that’s part of the conversation because we would have to make a roster move to make that happen, and we’ll work through that today.”
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) October 18, 2024
While Aaron Jones is listed as questionable, implying a 50/50 chance of playing, all signs point to him starting on Sunday. He’s been practicing and NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport has reported that he is likely to play on Sunday.
Whether T.J. Hockenson will play or not on Sunday is still a bit of a question. The prevailing view is that he won’t play, but it wouldn’t be terribly surprising if they played him but held him to a pitch count as his first game back from an ACL.
Detroit Lions
- G Christian Mahagony, Illness, FP, OUT
- CB Carleton Davis, Quad, FP, QUESTIONABLE
- RG Kevin Zeitler, Groin, DNP, QUESTIONABLE
Frank Ragnow, Brian Branch, and Dan Skipper had been on the injury report this week but have no injury designation for the game on Sunday, meaning they will play.
However, starting right guard Kevin Zeitler did not practice on Friday, which was a downgrade from limited on Thursday. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said “he wasn’t ready to rule him out yet” but went on to talk about a backup being able to step in. That sounds more like Zeitler will not play to me. Lions beat reporter Dave Birkett is reporting that Campbell said he was “a longshot” to play on Sunday. If Zeitler can’t go, I believe Kayode Awosika would replace him. He played week four against the Seahawks.
Cornerback Carleton Davis was a full participant in Friday’s practice, and Dan Campbell said he was trending in the right direction, which would seem to indicate it’s more likely than not that he will play on Sunday. Whether or not he’ll be at 100% is also a potential issue for the Lions. Lions beat reporter Dave Birkett is reporting that Davis said he was good to go on Sunday, so it looks like he will start.
Of course the big injury for the Lions is not on this report, as star edge rusher Aiden Hutchinson was put on IR this week after suffering a broken leg last week against the Cowboys. The Lions also placed DT Kyle Peko on IR this week as well, so the Lions will be a little thin on depth at that position on Sunday.
As of this writing, the Vikings have not provided any update on the IR status of Dalton Risner and T.J. Hockenson, but I will update this piece when they do so.
Stay tuned.
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