Vikings place Kevin McDermott on IR, promote Cornelius Edison

After Minnesota Vikings’ long snapper Kevin McDermott was injured in the team’s 16-0 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field last week, he (and the team) hoped that his injured shoulder would heal quickly enough for him to be a part of the team’s playoff run. Unfortunately, those thoughts came to an end on Saturday afternoon.

The Vikings have announced that they have placed McDermott on injured reserve, and promoted center Cornelius Edison from the practice squad to the active roster.

McDermott is in his third season as the Vikings’ long snapper, and has done a pretty solid job since taking over for long-time long snapper Cullen Loeffler. He was injured late in the first half against the Packers, and tight end David Morgan took over his duties for the remainder of the contest. The team signed free agent Jeff Overbaugh this past week, and it was initially thought that he was just going to be a temporary guy for the regular season finale against the Chicago Bears to give McDermott an opportunity to rest.

McDermott’s move to IR opened up a spot on the 53-man roster, and given their current need for offensive line depth with center Pat Elflein out of this week’s contest, the team has chosen to promote Edison. This will be Edison’s second stint on the active roster this year, as he was activated for the game against the Cleveland Browns in London earlier this year. He was then released and re-signed back to the practice squad a couple of days later.

Here’s hoping that Jeff Overbaugh can match McDermott’s level of play. Given the phobia that Vikings fans (rightfully) have about special teams and the postseason, he’s going to have to.