Vikings place Jordan Hicks on injured reserve, make Anthony Barr signing official

The Minnesota Vikings’ defense has been a big part of the turnaround the team has had from a 1-4 record to their current five-game winning streak. Now, they’re going to have to play most of the rest of the season without one of the biggest parts of that turnaround.

The team has announced that linebacker Jordan Hicks has been placed on injured reserve, meaning that he will miss at least the next four games. He will be eligible to come back in time for the Week 16 game against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Hicks collided with Camryn Bynum during the Vikings’ win over the New Orleans Saints this past Sunday and left the game with what was classed as a shin injury. He later experienced compartment syndrome and had to undergo a procedure to repair the damage to his leg.

Hicks has had a huge season for the Minnesota defense, highlighted by him being named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week back in Week 6 when the Vikings defeated the Chicago Bears. He is also the main point of communication on defense (ie “the guy with the green dot on his helmet”), so someone else is going to take over that role. When Hicks departed the game against the Saints, rookie Ivan Pace Jr. took over that role but we’ll see if that continues going forward.

One of the players that will likely be called on to try to replace Hicks is Anthony Barr. We mentioned yesterday that the team was going to sign him to the practice squad, and this afternoon they made that move official. As I said yesterday, I’m not quite sure how much Barr has left in the tank, but if the team thinks enough of him to bring him in I’m going to defer to them at this point.

Here’s hoping that Jordan Hicks’ time on IR is a short one, because if this team is going to make a run they’re going to need him back in the middle of the defense.