Vikings Place Chris Cook On Injured Reserve

When we first got word of the injury to Minnesota Vikings' cornerback Chris Cook after last night's 36-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I speculated that it was going to end badly for him.

It stinks to be right sometimes.

The Vikings confirmed today that they have placed the third-year cornerback on injured reserve with the designation to return. It turns out that he has a broken arm, and not just a broken wrist as was originally speculated. The injury will require surgery for Cook, and that surgery will sideline him for seven to eight weeks.

With the new injured reserve rules, the "designation to return" means that Cook has to sit out of practice for six weeks, and can be activated after eight. That means that the earliest that he can be activated again would be the Week 17 season finale against Green Bay at the Metrodome. Unless the Vikings have a playoff berth on the line in that one. . .and, after last night, it's not something that I'm terribly optimistic about. . .it's likely that his season is done.

The Vikings might have a bit of a decision to make on Cook after this season. Though he's shown a great deal of promise when he's on the field, in his three year career, he will have appeared in either 20 or 21 out of 48 possible games due to various injuries and brushes with the law. (It will be 20 if he's done for the year and 21 if he comes back for the season finale.) Next season is the final year of his rookie contract, and he could very well be playing for his next job, whether it's with the Vikings or not. As I said, he's been getting better when he's been on the field, but if you miss more than half the games you're eligible to play, you're more of a liability than an asset.

Rookie Josh Robinson replaced Cook in the base defense on Thursday night, and will likely be the starter the rest of the way. A.J. Jefferson will likely see a lot more time as well, while Marcus Sherels and Brandon Burton fight it out to be the dime corner.