That Was Then

Things were looking rosy in August when the Minnesota Vikings broke training camp in fairly sound health. They weren't completely immune to the injury bug that hits every team in the preseason. Defensive lineman B.J. DuBose was placed on injured reserve in May. Fellow defensive lineman Scott Crichton joined him in August. As did defensive backs Antoine Exum Jr. and Jabari Price. Nearly every one of the other 31 NFL teams would trade pretty much anything to be hit so lightly. Not only were the Vikings free of season-wrecking injuries they were also mostly free of the nagging sort of injuries that keep players on the sideline for weeks and drive coaches nuts. The Minnesota Vikings were lucky. A lot has changed in the last three weeks.

About a month ago the Vikings offensive backfield started with:

Teddy Bridgewater
Adrian Peterson

Going into Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers it looks like this:

Sam Bradford
Jerick McKinnon

That doesn't even look like the same team. Bradford was the starting quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles a month ago.

The Vikings lost Teddy Bridgwater for the season to a brutal knee injury on August 30. This was a serious blow for a team that had Super Bowl dreams. Instead of canceling those dreams general manager Rick Spielman and the personnel department went to work. They found a trade partner in the Eagles and gave up a first and conditional fourth round pick for Sam Bradford. Based on the minuscule sample size of a single game, the Vikings might have something. Bradford was great in the win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. NFL game film aficionado Greg Cosell declared it the best he'd ever seen the quarterback play. Considering Bradford went into the game with less than three weeks in the team's offensive system his performance was quite promising. Maybe those lofty dreams aren't dead.

Then, this week brought more injury news. Adrian Peterson injured his knee in that win over the Packers. An MRI on Monday revealed a torn meniscus. He had surgery yesterday. His football prognosis is a potential return late in the season or the playoffs. If those grand dreams hold. Peterson is a physical freak so an earlier return isn't out of the question.

As the news of Peterson's surgery bounced around the Vikings facility and among the media on Wednesday it was also revealed that left tackle Matt Kalil needed surgery on his hip. He was placed on injured reserve. There's a chance that he could return this season but that would be even more optimistic than a Peterson return.

After that injury-free training camp, the Vikings have been hit pretty hard by injuries since August 30. Their quarterback, running back, and left tackle are on the shelf for most, if not all, of the season. Out are Teddy Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson, and Matt Kalil. In are Sam Bradford, Jerick McKinnon, and T.J. Clemmings. It might seem ridiculous but Kalil might be the most difficult to replace. Bradford, based on that single game, looks fine. He play may even trend upward as he becomes more comfortable in the offense. At running back, McKinnon and Matt Asiata played well in place of Peterson in 2014. That was the year in which Peterson was yanked from the Vikings lineup for the season due to the "punishment-on-a-whim" discipline of Roger Goodell. The offense will certainly look different without Peterson. More spread formations and less power runs. Maybe Cordarrelle Patterson, and his explosive ways, will become more of a factor in the weekly game plans. Sometimes a team has to expand the playbook when a big part of it is rehabbing from knee surgery. The offense will adjust without Peterson but replacing a veteran left tackle will be difficult. Especially for an offensive line that has struggled as a whole. After an excellent rookie season in 2012, Kalil has had far more downs than ups the last three years. This is a contract year for him and his continued Vikings career was very much up in the air. He played well against the Tennessee Titans, Brian Orakpo in particular, in week one but missed some practice time last week with a hip issue. He played against the Packers with that hip issue but was mostly a turnstile for the Packer across from him, usually Clay Matthews. It was obvious that the hip issue was more than just an issue. Now, Clemmings steps in at left tackle. He started at right tackle last season as a rookie. He struggled often but hopefully, for Bradford's continued health, he learned from those struggles. He's a strong, talented football player. The Vikings might have even seen him as the future at the position if Kalil didn't start playing like the franchise left tackle that he was drafted to be. Clemmings now steps into the position a year early.

The NFL doesn't stop when a team loses a player, or two. Or three. It's simply next man up.