Report: Christian Darrisaw, Harrison Smith OUT for Vikings against Lions

When the Minnesota Vikings face the Detroit Lions at Ford Field this afternoon with a chance to wrap up the NFC North title, they apparently won’t have a couple of key pieces of their starting lineup.

Per Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw and safety Harrison Smith will be sitting out of Sunday’s game in Detroit.

This isn’t completely unexpected for Darrisaw, who will miss his third straight game because of a concussion. The concussion was Darrisaw’s second in two weeks and the team has made it clear that they’re going to be cautious with him, as they can afford to be with a playoff spot basically assured.

Smith was one of a handful of Vikings that was dealing with an illness at the start of this week’s practices, but it was revealed later on in the week that he’s dealing with a neck injury as well.

In their places, Blake Brandel will make another start at left tackle while Josh Metellus will start next to Camryn Bynum at safety. The team also elevated Myles Dorn from the practice squad yesterday to add more depth at safety for this one.

We’ll get confirmation for this in about forty-five minutes when the inactives come out, but it appears that the Vikings will be without Christian Darrisaw and Harrison Smith this afternoon.