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ESPN football analyst Adam Schefter is burning the midnight oil tonight, as he often does the night before an NFL Sunday, and he’s confirmed a couple of things that we’ve been hearing over the course of this week.
When the Vikings take the field on Sunday against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium, they will NOT have the services of wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
Vikings’ WR Stefon Diggs, listed as questionable for Sunday with a rib injury, is not expected to play vs. Lions, per sources. Vikings have a bye week next week, so Diggs will get two weeks to rest his ribs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 4, 2018
This is not a huge surprise, as Diggs didn’t practice all week with his rib injury. The move the Vikings made to move wide receiver Chad Beebe to the active roster on Saturday provided a bit of foreshadowing to this as well.
It does, however, look like running back Dalvin Cook is going to give it a go on a limited basis.
Vikings’ RB Dalvin Cook, listed as questionable for Sunday due to a lingering hamstring injury, is expected to play on a pitch count of about 20 or so plays, per source. Vikings have thought the same with Cook before, only to have him struggle pregame and deactivate him.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 4, 2018
Cook hasn’t played since Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams. As Schefter mentions, he has had weeks where the team thought he might play, most notably in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals, but wound up being deactivated after pregame workouts didn’t go the way everyone thought. We’ll see if the Vikings pull the trigger on Cook this time around.
Schefter also reported that Lions’ star cornerback Darius Slay, who was added to the injury report after being limited in practice on Friday, is expected to be active and start.
We’ll have more on this one as we get closer to kickoff.