Will Reichard Injury Update: Latest on Minnesota Vikings Kicker

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Will Reichard - Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings got back on a winning track on Sunday Night Football vs the Indianapolis Colts, a win that powered them back up to sole 2nd place of the NFC North, at 6-2. But there was one very troublesome development last night, even after a much needed victory.

Something was off with rookie kicker Will Reichard. First, he missed a 48-yard field goal, just wide right. Not ideal, but nobody expected him to remain perfect forever. But then, the next Vikings possession, he lined one up from 31 yards… and missed that one too.

Minnesota Vikings rookie kicker dealing with quad injury

That’s when fans started to question if something was wrong with Reichard, or if our kicker curse was fighting back against Will’s smoking hot 14-for-14 start to the season. Then, videos and reports started flooding in showing the Vikings kicker with an obvious leg injury.

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On the sideline, he was using a heat pack to keep his thigh loose, was walking with a clear limp and he was in obvious discomfort during his kicking motion. Soon after those videos started surfacing, Reichard’s injury was reported as right quadricep strain, of some sort.

Sure, Reichard missed two kicks on Sunday night, and one of them was egregious. But once word came out that he was dealing with a leg injury, my respect for him only grew as the night went on. Obviously, the rookie kicker out of Alabama was in pain.

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Yet, he continued to go out, make extra points and kick touchbacks, even though it was causing major discomfort every time. Dude looked like Brett Favre at the end of his career. No matter how bad it got, you just knew he was coming in for the next one. Last night, Will Reichard proved that he is a football guy.

Will Reichard latest injury update:

After the game, Reichard confirmed the injury is something that he has been dealing with this week, but that something happened in the first half that made it worse. Last we heard prior to Monday afternoon, Reichard was going to have an MRI on his quad today.

Then, head coach Kevin O’Connell gave a somewhat grim update during his press conference this afternoon. While he didn’t give anything official, he did say they are still evaluating Reichard. That evaluation includes, according to KO, the possibility of bringing in kickers to possibly replace the rookie sharpshooter.

Will Reichard was picked by the Minnesota Vikings in the 6th round (No. 203 overall) in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s now 14 of 16 in his NFL career (plus 23-of-23 XP). But it now seems like the Vikings could lose their biggest weapon on special teams. Hopefully, it’s not that long.

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