Vikings fear Mike Hughes tore his ACL

We mentioned briefly during today’s game that rookie cornerback Mike Hughes suffered a significant leg injury. It certainly sounds like the team is fearing the worst.

Numerous sources are reporting that the Minnesota Vikings fear that Hughes suffered a torn left ACL during today’s 27-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, and that he will have an MRI on Monday to confirm that. If it turns out that’s the case, it would put a premature end to what had been a very promising rookie season through the first six weeks.

Hughes suffered the injury while covering Larry Fitzgerald in the fourth quarter of today’s game. Hughes and Fitzgerald got their feet tangled as Fitzgerald was running his route, and Hughes came down awkwardly. He stayed down on the field after the play, and had to be helped to the sideline by the Vikings’ medical staff.

The Vikings made Hughes the 30th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft despite having what appeared to be a surplus of talent at the cornerback position. He took over as the team’s slot cornerback early on, and even Mike Zimmer. . .who is notoriously hard to please when it comes to rookies, and particularly rookie defenders. . .talked about how quickly Hughes had adapted to the defense in Minnesota.

This appears to be the second season in a row where the Vikings will lose their top draft pick to a knee injury for a significant portion of the season. Last season, Dalvin Cook tore his ACL back in Week 4 and missed the remainder of the season.

It certainly sounds like the Vikings are going to be without Mike Hughes for the rest of the 2018 season. When we get the final word, we will bring you an update.