Vikings’ Christian Darrisaw Out for Season with Torn ACL and MCL

The Minnesota Vikings have lost left tackle Christian Darrisaw, one in every of their top players and some of the high-quality at his position in the NFL, for the season because of accidents to the ACL and MCL in his left knee, educate Kevin O’Connell confirmed Friday.

Darrisaw suffered the injury overdue inside the first half of the Vikings’ 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night. The Vikings located him on injured reserve Friday afternoon and, in the corresponding move, activated tight end T.J. Hockenson to their fifty-three-man roster from the bodily not able to perform (PUP) listing.

“He’s truly one of our offensive pillars that we’ve leaned on a lot,” O’Connell said of Darrisaw, “and it will be an extensive loss. But we’ve all got to do some bit greater.”Veteran David Quessenberry replaced Darrisaw in Thursday’s sport; however, O’Connell stated Vikings coaches have been discussing a couple of alternatives for the location transferring forward. Left shield Blake Brandel has played left address in the beyond, and shield Dalton Risner is eligible to be activated from injured reserve. The Vikings additionally drafted tackle Walter Rouse in the 6th spherical this spring.

“I idea [Quessenberry] settled in and did some things to help us,” O’Connell said, “however, yeah, when you talk about that mentality of seeking to get the high-quality five men in there, now not most effective the ones 5 alternatives, but then what does the rest of the intensity look like?

I do feel like this is in which your O-line intensity that we felt good approximately throughout schooling camp and then leading into the season gives you opportunities, and we’ll keep to have that talk within our education staff and we will figure out what the first-class plan of assault is shifting forward, and I do assume there is more than one alternative at the table with that, and that is what we’ve were given to determine out.”

Darrisaw, 25, has been the Vikings’ beginning left address because they made him the No. 23 select of the 2021 draft. He has battled a sequence of injuries but accomplished well sufficient to merit a four-year agreement extension well worth up to $113 million.

The injury occurred at the same time as Darrisaw was blocking with 35 seconds remaining inside the first 1/2. Rams protection Jaylen McCollough fell into the aspect of his left knee, and team clinical officials helped him walk without delay to the locker room as the Vikings finished out the half.

The Vikings had taken possession of the ball at their very own three-yard line, but they’d all 3 in their timeouts. Rather than having his group kneel the ball to close out the 1/2, O’Connell said he desired to see whether the offense should probably pass into position for a score. The Rams also had a timeout, which could have required the Vikings to kneel twice inside a narrow space among the road of scrimmage and the end quarter.

“They had dime protection on the sector,” O’Connell stated, “so I concept we should perhaps pop a run. I don’t know if we had been necessarily targeted versus that organization out there, which I suppose if we’re, perhaps that ball’s got a danger to [move]. If we get off and rolling with the timeouts we had left on the time, get that first down, then there may be a danger to maybe try to dial a few stuff up and not give them any chance at doubling us up there with them starting out the second half.”