Kevin O’Connell says Cameron Dantzler is a “long shot” to play against Bills

With the Minnesota Vikings making preparations to take on the Buffalo Bills’ high-powered offense in Week 10, it sounds like the team is going to have to do so without one of their top cornerbacks.

In a press conference today, Kevin O’Connell said that Dantzler was a “long shot” to play against Buffalo on Sunday.

Dantzler sat out the second half of the Vikings’ 20-17 victory over the Washington Commanders on Sunday with an ankle injury. He had been listed as “questionable” going into the game, but that was with a neck injury, so the ankle issue is something new.

It would be a significant blow to the Minnesota defense if Dantzler were unable to play on Sunday, given that he’s having a very good season to this point after a couple of up-and-down years in his first two NFL seasons.

If there’s an upside to this, it’s that Dantzler was replaced by rookie Akayleb Evans after he was declared out of Sunday’s game, and Evans acquitted himself quite well, including making a huge pass break-up against Terry McLaurin on a 4th-and-1 play to stop a Washington drive. If Dantzler is unable to go, it might be Evans that gets pushed into duty ahead of his fellow rookie, second-round pick Andrew Booth Jr.

This is obviously something to monitor as we get closer to game time, but getting a declaration like this one this early in the week doesn’t bode well for Dantzler’s chances of being ready for Sunday.