Marcus Davenport suffers high ankle sprain, could land on IR

When he’s been on the field this season, outside linebacker Marcus Davenport has been a difference-maker for the Minnesota Vikings’ defense. Unfortunately for him, he hasn’t been on the field that much, and that’s a trend that looks like it’s going to continue.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network is reporting that Davenport suffered a high ankle sprain in the Vikings’ win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. That sort of injury has a recovery time of four to six weeks, and as Rapoport points out makes Davenport a candidate for the injured reserve list.

This offseason, Davenport signed a one-year deal with the Vikings with a value of up to $13 million. He missed almost all of the first three games with an ankle issue, but finally got on the field for the games against Carolina and Kansas City and recorded a sack in each of those games. He suffered this injury in the second half at Soldier Field, and it is apparently not the same ankle that gave him the issues that caused him to miss the first three games.

With Davenport potentially missing four to six weeks, the Vikings are likely going to end up giving more opportunities to D.J. Wonnum, with undrafted rookie Andre Carter II and practice squad OLB Luiji Vilain potentially in line to get more snaps as well.

Once there is a final diagnosis or determination on the status of Marcus Davenport, we’ll bring that news to you here. Hopefully the time he’ll miss will be on the low end of that four to six week timeline.