Xavier Rhodes suffers potentially serious hamstring injury

Fans of the Minnesota Vikings have gotten used to cornerback Xavier Rhodes leaving a game with an injury. Generally, Rhodes bounces back fairly quickly and gets back out onto the field, but what we saw Sunday night could be something significantly worse.

Rhodes went to the turf on Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers following a long pass to Davante Adams, and immediately clutched his right hamstring. He needed help to get off the field and didn’t return, and from what it sounds like, we may have seen the last of Rhodes for this season.

Dr. David Chao, a doctor that generally tends to be accurate when it comes to injuries like this, seems to think that Rhodes has suffered one of the few hamstring injuries that would actually require surgery. If that’s the case, it would certainly end Rhodes’ season.

If Rhodes is out, the team will have to lean on undrafted rookie Holton Hill, and will likely end up having to sign a corner in free agency for depth purposes. It would also make Trae Waynes the #1 corner, and would place Mackensie Alexander in a more prominent role as well.

Also, before anyone suggests it, current defensive backs coach Terence Newman is not an option, as NFL rules prohibit him from a return to the field.

Hopefully this will be one of the few times that Dr. Chao is wrong about this kind of injury, but if he’s right, we’ll have to wish Xavier Rhodes the best in his recovery and watch what the Vikings do to try to replace him.