Vikings add Brett Jones to 53-man roster, Dru Samia likely to start at RG

It sounds like the Minnesota Vikings have made their decision about what they intend to do at right guard following the injury to Pat Elflein that landed him on injured reserve.

According to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, second-year guard Dru Samia has been working with the first-team offense and appears to be in line to start on Sunday afternoon when the Vikings battle the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Samia was drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 draft out of Oklahoma, and essentially got a redshirt year as a rookie. He did play the majority of the snaps in the Vikings’ season finale against the Chicago Bears when the Vikings benched the majority of their starters after being locked into their playoff seeding and appeared to have acquitted himself fairly well. Hopefully he will make a solid impression in Elflein’s place.

To fill Elflein’s spot on the 53-man roster, the Vikings have brought offensive lineman Brett Jones up from the practice squad. This doesn’t necessarily mean much, since Mike Zimmer seems determined to not play Jones for whatever reason, but at least now he’s back on the main roster and not on the practice squad.

We’ll have more on the team’s preparations for this Sunday’s contest as we get closer to kickoff, folks.