The Minnesota Vikings are set to showdown against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night in California, where they come in as three-point underdogs.
Much of the focus this past week has been on whether JJ McCarthy would step back into the limelight as the starting quarterback, yet head coach, Kevin O’Connell, instead chose to keep Carson Wentz in the lineup as the team waits for the ex Michigan man to return to a full bill of health.
An underrated focus on the week should have been the status of Minnesota’s bookend tackles.
Christian Darrisaw, who missed the first two games with injury as he rehabbed a knee injury suffered in October 2024, has managed to play over the past month, but a further knee injury had him pop up on the injury report this past week, making his playing status “questionable” for Thursday night.
One In, One Out At Tackle For The Minnesota Vikings
And news is good on that front, as Darrisaw is set to play against LA. The bad news however, is that also-questionable tackle, Brian O’Neill, who missed week 5’s game against the Browns with an MCL sprain, is inactive for Thursday night’s game – despite playing last week in the narrow loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“For the Vikings,” NFL insider, Ian Rapoport wrote on Thursday afternoon. “LT Christian Darrisaw is active, while RT Brian O’Neill is not. Darrisaw may be on a bit of a pitch count, which has happened in the past.”
O’Neill’s injury would seem to be an aggravation of the same MCL Sprain that had him miss the second of the two London games against Cleveland, although that has yet to be confirmed by the team, despite it also being a knee injury.
Vikings Missing A Key Part Of Their Offensive Strength On Thursday
When healthy, Darrisaw and O’Neill form one of the better tackle duos in the National Football League. However, both have struggled with injury over the past year, so it has been a rarity to see the pair take the field together in the past twelve months.
Although the silver lining on the O’Neill news is that Darrisaw will be able to anchor the left side of the line, as Rapoport points out, it is not clear what kind of snap count he will be on during the game, leaving the line vulnerable on certain downs.
The other piece of good news is that the rest of the starting offensive line – minus center, Ryan Kelly, who remains on injured reserve – will start on Thursday night.
In O’Neill’s absence, former San Francisco 49ers tackle, Justin Skule, has played fairly well, the Vikings will hope that he can survive another game and keep a clean pocket for Wentz as the team awaits the veteran right tackle’s re-emergence on the field.
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