Minnesota Vikings Injury Updates on Stephon Gilmore, Andrew Van Ginkel and more…
The Minnesota Vikings will play against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football this week. While they may not need a victory this week, in order to clinch a playoff spot, it’s a must-win game for the 11-2 Vikings, if they want to keep their NFC North title hopes alive, and keep pace with the division-leading 12-1 Detroit Lions.
Having their best players on the field, at U.S. Bank Stadium on Monday, would certainly help the Vikings — who are currently riding a 5-game winning streak — collect their 12th victory of the season. But that dream isn’t usually reality in the NFL.
Minnesota Vikings injury updates for week 15 vs Bears
Minnesota has already lost LT Christian Darrisaw for the season, and went without Pro Bowl tight end TJ Hockenson for the entire first half, among a bevy of other injuries. The Minnesota Vikings’ best cornerback, Stephon Gilmore, missed last week’s W over the Atlanta Falcons, with a hamstring injury.
Today’s practice was only a walkthrough so the below report is based on estimations, as if a full practice had been held. CB Stephon Gilmore was the only “Did Not Practice” (DNP) on the Vikings’ injury report Thursday.
Three others were limited, including Defensive Player of the Year candidate Andrew Van Ginkel, starting RB Aaron Jones, and EDGE Pat Jones, who ranks third on the team in sacks. Josh Oliver was also listed, but as a full participant.
Thursday's #Vikings injury report.
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 12, 2024
The team held a walkthrough today and the report is an estimation. pic.twitter.com/KBOPE5jqUd
Thursday was actually the 2nd practice of the week for the Minnesota Vikings. The first one was Wednesday, and it was one of just three fully padded practice that teams are allowed to have during the course of an NFL season. According to Andrew Krammer (Star Tribune), Stephon Gilmore and Andrew Van Ginkel sat out of yesterday’s practice, as well.
What else do we know about Vikings injuries?
An official Vikings injury report was not required yesterday, since they play on Monday night, instead of Sunday. Andrew Van Ginkel and Pat Jones II account for 16 of the Vikings’ 40 sacks (40%) this season, and 27 of their 88 QB Hits (31%), according to Pro Football Reference.
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Losing either would be difficult to overcome. Losing both would be devastating. Another week out for Gilmore doesn’t help either. Fortunately, it sounds like Van Ginkel is expected to play Sunday vs the Bears. His rest days on Wednesday and Thursday seem like they were precautionary, to make sure he’s ready to play on Monday. The outlook isn’t quite as positive for Stephon Gilmore or Pat Jones…
“We will see what [Gilmore and Pat Jones] are able to do as we get toward Friday or Saturday, and just be smart about getting them out there if we can,” O’Connell said. “We’d love to have both guys. If not, we know we have guys that can step up.”
The Vikings also did not practice with edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, who has been on the injury report with a thigh issue. But Van Ginkel, who had his practice reps limited last week before playing a full game, said he was getting extra rest entering a lighter work day scheduled for players on Thursday.
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Head coach Kevin O’Connell and defensive coordinator Brian Flores have entrusted Gilmore’s snaps to veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau and the results have been… not disastrous. But if the Minnesota Vikings start losing key members of their pass rush, combined with their top cornerbacks, that is a recipe for defensive disaster.
As far as Aaron Jones is concerned, this is the first time anything has been reported on any sort of back injury. Previously, he’s been listed with rib injury. That tells us this injury may be new, which means it’s absolutely a situation worth monitoring.
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