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When we brought you the Thursday injury report for the Minnesota Vikings, we talked about cornerback Mike Hughes being downgraded in practice after being listed with a neck injury and hoped that it wouldn’t affect him for Sunday’s Wild Card game against the New Orleans Saints.
Turns out it’s going to affect him. Like, a lot.
On Friday, the Vikings placed Hughes on the injured reserve list, which means that his season is over.
Hughes missed the first two games of the season for the Vikings, as he was still recovering from the ACL tear that ended his 2018 season. He appeared in all 14 of the Vikings’ games since then, starting three of them. This season, he has been credited with nine passes defended and an interception, and was also serving as the team’s punt returner.
To fill Hughes’ spot on the roster, the Vikings once again brought back cornerback/punt returner Marcus Sherels. This is the second time that Sherels has come back to Minnesota after leaving during the offseason to sign with the Saints. The Vikings brought him back in late September and released him about a month later. From there, he signed with the Miami Dolphins, and the Dolphins released him in mid-December. That’s why he’s now able to come back to the Vikings in time for the postseason.
We’ll have the full injury report for you here shortly. . .there’s more bad news on it, too, so stay tuned.