All Things 2025 Minnesota Vikings In-Season Thread

Donate To GopherHole

X going all crazy over this, can't say I really blame the angry mob, especially because it's attached to ESPN. It seems most everything ESPN touches goes to shit.

 





Vikes injury updates via KOC
heavy.com

Kevin O'Connell Shares Hopeful Update on Harrison Smith Ahead of Vikings Opener

The Vikings may have veteran safety Harrison Smith back on the field in time for their Week 1 game against the Bears on Monday night. Though he didn't practice Wednesday, Smith is expected to try and play.
heavy.com heavy.com


The Minnesota Vikings secondary may get a huge boost for their opener against the Chicago Bearson Monday night.

Minnesota coach Kevin O’Connell shared an update that safety Harrison Smith participated in a team walkthrough

Wednesday and is ramping up potentially to play at Soldier Field.

Smith, of course, has been away from the team from the team as he tends to an undisclosed personal injury that has kept him out of practice and the preseason since Aug. 11.

The veteran is set to enter his 14th season and is coming off another stalwart season where he had 87 tackles, three interceptions and 10 passes defended, while helping Minnesota reach the playoffs with a 14-3 record.

What Did Kevin O’Connell Say About Harrison Smith’s Return?​

O’Connell tempered all expectations by saying Smith did not practice Wednesday, but he did participate in the team’s walkthrough.

“The hope is we can ramp him up,” O’Connell said. “He’s back in the building and meetings and building up his workload for the week. We’ll see where he’s at throughout the remainder of the week.”

Smith is being listed by ESPN as questionable, though the Vikings have not divulged their injury report for Week 1 yet. The Vikings have remained mum on his injury other than reports that his injury was “not mental-health related” per the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and that it was not expected to be a long-term situation.
Smith has played at least 90 percent of the Vikings’ defensive snaps in every year in his career, and he played 94 percent of the team’s defensive snaps — despite missing Minnesota’s 27-24 win in Week 16 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Having Smith available against the Bears would be particularly advantageous, since he is one of the best safeties at defending the run in the NFL, and the Bears are expected to lean heavily on D’Andre Swift and mobile quarterback Caleb Williams to open up their passing attack.

Smith earned a 76.5 run-defense grade from Pro Football Focus in 2024, the 27th-best mark among 171 safeties to qualify — even at age 35.

What Did Kevin O’Connell Say About The Vikings’ Injured Players?​

Aside from Smith, the Vikings are holding their breath on left tackle Christian Darrisaw and wide receiver Jalen Nailor. O’Connell was asked about Darrisaw’s status, since he practiced Wednesday and is recovering from a season-ending knee injury last year.

“He looks really good,” O’Connell said. “He’s had some really, really good progression days.

“We’ll see how he feels. Ultimately, Christian is such an important player to our team that we want to make sure we’re smart about the plan. But he’s earned the right, by all the things he’s done, there’s no reason to make the decision for any other reason for what is best for [Darrisaw] and he’s going to be heavily involved in that.”

O’Connell cited the Vikings’ long season, and their off-kilter early-season schedule that includes consecutive games across the pond in Great Britain, as factors that could affect whether they hold Darrisaw out ahead of their Sunday Night Football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2.

“Knowing we’ve got 17 games, including a short week next week and ultimately our trip overseas there’s got to be a big-picture mindset to a player of Christian’s caliber,” O’Connell said. “Our jobs are to make sure we’re doing what’s best for the team for the greater duration of 17-plus games. What that means for Monday night, I don’t know.”
 








kg21 said:
Lions at Packers

Go Lions!
Click to expand...

I have some action, some fairly strong positions, shorting the Lions and with GB/MN finishing 1st and 2nd in the NFC North, either order would be extremely beneficial. So I hate to say it but Go Green Bay.

GophersInIowa said:
Correction, go meteor!
Click to expand...

This is always, always, ALWAYS the correct answer.
 




gophersfan said:
The Los Angeles Chargers just beat the Kansas City Chiefs. What a game.
Click to expand...
At some point the chiefs have to have the opposite side of the coin and lose these one score games consistently across a season. LA looked like clearly the better team all night.
 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
X going all crazy over this, can't say I really blame the angry mob, especially because it's attached to ESPN. It seems most everything ESPN touches goes to shit.
Click to expand...
So, do you watch the Masters on ESPN during their 1st & 2nd Round coverage? Sounds like the Augusta broadcasts have about the same limited commercial inventory as they planning for Red Zone?

In general I don't get the disdain for ESPN on this matter. Blame Zygi Wilf and his 31 other NFL Ownership group cohorts who each are netting 10s of millions of righteous bucks for selling out. Think it would have been any different if FOX, NBC/Peacock or any other broadcast partner won the bid?

Anyone with a DVR can avoid commercials anyway.
 

gophersfan said:
The Los Angeles Chargers just beat the Kansas City Chiefs. What a game.
Click to expand...
In Brazil!

Caught the very end of this ... YouTube stream (for free!) on my 4K TV looked beautiful.

Chiefs left OG got beat by a drum by Chargers Khalil Mack, who I think is normally a LB but they lined him up at 3 tech ... way too fast ...... but Fking Mahomes just runs away, throws across body, huge pass. Ended up not getting a TD but they needed two scores anyway
 

Ope3 said:
So, do you watch the Masters on ESPN during their 1st & 2nd Round coverage? Sounds like the Augusta broadcasts have about the same limited commercial inventory as they planning for Red Zone?

In general I don't get the disdain for ESPN on this matter. Blame Zygi Wilf and his 31 other NFL Ownership group cohorts who each are netting 10s of millions of righteous bucks for selling out. Think it would have been any different if FOX, NBC/Peacock or any other broadcast partner won the bid?

Anyone with a DVR can avoid commercials anyway.
Click to expand...

Not really worth derailing the entire thread here to delve into the failings of ESPN. The network is a shell of what it used to be, largely as a result of some decisions they've made in the last decade or so.

The issue at hand, the commercials on Red Zone; I can see why so many people are upset. Viewers have grown accustomed to hearing host Scott Hanson start the broadcast with these words: "Seven hours of commercial-free football starts now!" Those words resonated with a lot of people.

Me? I've enjoyed Red Zone in recent years, mostly because I probably have a short attention span and RZ is kinda like crack cocaine for viewers like me that just want to consume a lot of the action in a small place.

No doubt, the outrage is over the top and X/Twitter is where that kind of thing thrives. It's entertaining to me at this point, watching the reactions. I don't have a strong opinion really, and I still haven't decided if I'll only use Red Zone this season or the full NFL Sunday Ticket. In the last couple years, if I'm not actually going to one of the games, I've watched RZ on Sunday afternoon, and then watched the replays of the games I'm interested in, whether it's the Vikings, Raiders or Cardinals.
 

Here is a link to Heavy on the Vikes’ pregame info (including depth chart and injury report)-

Heavy on Vikings

Heavy on Vikings is your hub for Minnesota Vikings news alerts, trade rumors, roster moves, depth chart, injury report, schedule, stats and predictions.
heavy.com heavy.com

Only two questionable starters, per them, are Dairisaw and Smith; Nailor apparently I’d good to go.

Concerning to this layperson is the lack of any second teamers listed behind Murphy @ nickel and Okudah @ RC. Any insights to help me understand this approach is appreciated😀
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Here is a link to Heavy on the Vikes’ pregame info (including depth chart and injury report)-

Heavy on Vikings

Heavy on Vikings is your hub for Minnesota Vikings news alerts, trade rumors, roster moves, depth chart, injury report, schedule, stats and predictions.
heavy.com heavy.com

Only two questionable starters, per them, are Dairisaw and Smith; Nailor apparently I’d good to go.

Concerning to this layperson is the lack of any second teamers listed behind Murphy @ nickel and Okudah @ RC. Any insights to help me understand this approach is appreciated😀
Click to expand...
I think Ward would be the 5th CB. They also might elevate Moreau off the practice squad. They really should have signed another CB. I suspect they will next week. After week 1, contracts aren't guaranteed.
 

Sounds like Harrison Smith isn't going to play. They will almost certainly have to elevate Moreau now.
 



You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom