UPDATE: The Vikings have made room for Fruechte on the active roster by placing safety Andrew Sendejo on injured reserve.
With three wide receivers listed on Friday’s injury report, and two of those three being listed as “doubtful,” the Minnesota Vikings have brought another wide receiver up from their practice squad.
The Vikings will be adding receiver Isaac Fruechte to the active roster for Sunday’s regular season finale against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. The team has not yet announced a corresponding roster move to make room for him, but it will likely involve putting someone on injured reserve. Receivers Stefon Diggs and Laquon Treadwell have been listed as “doubtful” for Sunday’s game, while the team has also ruled out running back Adrian Peterson and safety Andrew Sendejo.
Fruechte is another local product, having played his high school ball for the mighty Caledonia Warriors before moving on to the University of Minnesota. He was originally signed by the Vikings after going undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft, and spent the 2015 season on the Vikings’ practice squad.
He was in camp with the Vikings again in 2016 and was cut as part of the team’s final cutdown. He then moved on to the Detroit Lions’ practice squad, but was only with the Lions for a couple of weeks before he was released, allowing him to resign with Minnesota’s practice squad.
In his career with the Golden Gophers, the 6’3”, 210-pound Fruechte caught 50 passes for 702 yards and three touchdowns.
With the injuries that the Vikings have in their wide receiving corps going into Sunday’s game, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Fruechte get on the field for some snaps against Chicago.