Getty Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell during the team's 2023 season opener.
Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks exited a Week 10 matchup with the New Orleans Saints to what seemed to be an innocent leg injury on a collision with teammate Cam Bynum.
Hicks thought it was merely a bruised shin, tested it out on the sidelines and was cleared to return to the game. But after halftime, he knew something was wrong. Hicks returned to the bench from a third-quarter series and couldn’t lift his left leg. Heading back to the locker room, adrenaline faded as pain flooded over him.
Hicks had developed compartment syndrome in his right leg, a rare condition that results in pressure and swelling from internal bleeding.
“I was in excruciating pain. … It is the deepest, darkest ache you can probably imagine,” Hicks said during a December 7 locker room interview, per Vikings.com. “I was full-drenched [with] sweat, I’m twisting and turning, trying to get comfortable. Couldn’t get comfortable, ended up in the fetal position, laying there just trying to focus on breathing because it was so bad.”
Hicks was rushed to a Minneapolis-area hospital and underwent emergency surgery that resulted in him being placed on injured reserve in Week 12.
However, it could have been worse, much worse.
Hicks, speaking to reporters this week for the first time since undergoing surgery on November 13, revealed he could have had his right leg amputated.
“I had no clue about anything like this before that situation, really even until after I woke up from surgery and heard the doctors say, ‘It’s a good thing you got in, because you could have lost your leg,'” he said. “Ever since then, I’ve heard countless stories of people having to get stuff amputated, having to get muscle taken out, having drop foot – permanent damage. Wild. Crazy. I’m thankful and blessed to be where I’m at.”
Vikings LB Jordan Hicks Optimistic to Return This Season
GettyVikings team captain and linebacker Jordan Hicks.
With Hicks back in good spirits, the Vikings team captain and defensive signal caller’s return isn’t out of the question with Minnesota looking to make a playoff push in the final five weeks of the season.
Under NFL rules, a player on injured reserve must sit out at least four games. The Vikings had a Week 13 bye, meaning Hicks’ earliest return would be a Week 16 matchup with the Detroit Lions on Sunday, December 24.
Before his injury, Hicks was the Vikings leading tackler and was playing at a Pro Bowl level, according to coordinator Brian Flores.
Hicks isn’t getting ahead of himself, but said he is “optimistic” he could return this season.
In the meantime, he gave a word of advice for fans.
“Don’t go on the Internet and search what that looks like,” he told the Pioneer Press. “It’s extremely graphic.”
No Word on Vikings Edge Rusher Marcus Davenport’s Return
Minnesota VikingsMarcus Davenport at Vikings training camp.
Hicks is arguably the most integral defender on injured reserve currently, but the player that could have the most impact for a possible playoff appearance would be Marcus Davenport.
A prized free-agent signing in the offseason, Davenport has played in just three full games this season. He suffered a right ankle injury two days before the season, forcing him to miss all but four snaps of the Vikings’ first three games.
Returning for three games, Davenport tallied two sacks and was a disruptive force on the D-line before suffering a left ankle sprain that required surgery.
Davenport landed on injured reserve on October 18. He is eligible to return from injured reserve, but there has been no update on whether he will return this season.