Ed Ingram, Vikings Conjure Up New/Old Excuse for Training Camp Struggles

The Minnesota Vikings have treated Ed Ingram differently than every other offensive lineman on their roster, this summer. While his fellow starters were getting rest and not sweating their existence on the 53-man roster, Ingram was grinding out preseason snaps with the twos and threes.

From the start of offseason workouts, head coach Kevin O’Connell made it clear that the right guard position was not solidified, with Igram at the top of the depth chart. Recent reports even suggest they’re still actively pursuing his replacement.

Ed Ingram, Minnesota Vikings blame recovery from 2023 injury for his slow training camp start

In Saturday morning’s Star Tribune, however, there is a new twist to the Ed Ingram preseason story. According to what he and KOC told Andrew Krammer (Star Tribune), Ingram’s struggles can be blamed on hip and shoulder injuries he suffered at the end of last season. Apparently, he was not recovered from those injuries, at the start of camp.

Ingram missed two starts at the end of last season because of hip and shoulder injuries. His recovery was still affecting him this summer, Adofo-Mensah said.

“He came back from his injury at a certain place where he wasn’t fully ready, so camp was a slow start for him,” Adofo-Mensah said. “But he’s kind of ascended since then.”

Star Tribune

Hmmm. This is the first time all summer that the Minnesota Vikings have mentioned Ed Ingram’s 2023 injuries as a reason for why he struggled to cement his starting RG role in 2024. Why? Seems like a note worth mentioning weeks ago, doesn’t it?

How are we just hearing about this now?

Ingram’s status as the starting right guard has been one of the main talking points of training camp. Media members have asked questions regarding Ingram’s status incessantly. It’s been one of the main focal points all summer.

Related: The Minnesota Vikings are… Old

So why are we just now hearing about it? I don’t want to accuse the Vikings general manager, or Ed Ingram, of lying to Andrew Krammer. But there is no doubt the timing on this disclosure is 100% weird. There’s no denying that.

By the way, if you have a starting offensive linemen who is struggling to recover from last season’s hip and shoulder injuries… why would you play him more than the rest of his teammates in preseason games that don’t matter? Seems counterproductive, but I’m not a doctor or physical therapist.