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It’s Friday, which means injury report day across the National Football League. Both the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints have released their final injury reports leading up to their big Sunday Night Football contest at U.S. Bank Stadium, so let’s take a look at those now.
As always, we’ll lead off with the visitors.
New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints injury report vs Minnesota Vikings
| Player | Position | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Sunday Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Sunday Status |
| Mitchell Loewen | DL | Neck | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Jermon Bushrod | OT | Not Injury Related | DNP | DNP | FP | ------ |
No, I didn’t accidentally cut anything off or leave anyone out. That is actually the Saints’ entire injury report. Two whole people, only one of whom is out, and the guy that’s out is someone you’ve never heard of.
Now, let’s move on to the home team’s injury report. . .which, you’ll notice, is slightly longer.
Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings injury report vs New Orleans Saints
| Player | Position | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Sunday Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Position | Injury | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Sunday Status |
| Anthony Barr | LB | Hamstring | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Tom Compton | OL | Knee | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Dalvin Cook | RB | Hamstring | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Andrew Sendejo | S | Groin | DNP | DNP | DNP | Out |
| Riley Reiff | OT | Foot | LP | LP | DNP | Doubtful |
| Linval Joseph | DT | Ankle/Knee | LP | LP | LP | Questionable |
| Xavier Rhodes | CB | Ankle | DNP | DNP | DNP | Questionable |
| Kentrell Brothers | LB | Groin | FP | FP | FP | ------ |
| Everson Griffen | DE | Not Injury Related | FP | FP | FP | ------ |
| Anthony Harris | S | Knee | FP | FP | FP | ------ |
| Brandon Zylstra | WR | Neck | FP | FP | FP | ------ |
Yeah. . .that there is kind of ugly. The Vikings are already down four starters (if you’re still counting Dalvin Cook as a starter), and there’s the distinct possibility that they could be down two or three more. Xavier Rhodes is questionable despite not having practiced all week and reportedly still having a limp during the open part of Friday’s practice session. Riley Reiff appears to be on track to miss another game, and the team could also once again be without big Linval Joseph in the middle of the defense.
Also, in a strange bit of news, the NFL apparently called the Vikings and made them add Griffen to the injury report after he was not listed on Wednesday, following his return to the team after dealing with his personal issues. We don’t know how much he’s going to play on Sunday, but he appears to be on track to return after being a full participant in practice all week. Besides, given the injury report you see above, there might not be a slot on the inactive list for him anyway.
So, there are the final injury reports for the Saints and the Vikings leading up to Sunday’s game, folks. We’ll have more coverage of this one for you as we get closer to kickoff.