The Minnesota Vikings picked up a galvanizing win on Sunday, handling a desperate Seattle Seahawks team on the road, with all the crowd noise and weather that comes with a typical December game at Lumen Field.
The Vikings earned that pivotal, 27-24 win without one of their most important defensive players and overall team leaders.
Harrison Smith, a franchise icon who has played his entire 13-year NFL career for Minnesota, missed his first game of the season due to a foot issue. He was held back last week despite testing the injury during Friday’s practice and carrying a questionable designation into the weekend.
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Smith is one of many Vikings players trying to get healthy enough to go for this week’s monster NFC North matchup with the archrival Green Bay Packers. A win Sunday would turn Minnesota’s Week 18 matchup against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field into a heads-up match for the division title and No. 1 overall playoff seed.
The Vikings did not practice on Wednesday, as players were given the day off to celebrate Christmas Day with their families. The team was required, however, to announce an estimated practice report. Here are Minnesota’s most notable injured players, and what they’re dealing with, as the team prepares for Packers week at U.S. Bank Stadium:
S Harrison Smith
The aforementioned veteran safety was listed as “did not participate” (DNP) on Wednesday’s injury report. While that’s not a great sign for a player who missed the previous week’s game, the Vikings have capped Smith’s practice reps throughout the second half of the season in an effort to keep the 35-year-old as rested and healthy as possible. In a normal week, Smith would practice on Wednesday and Thursday before taking Friday off, so a DNP to start the week, even off a non-practice, is a situation worth monitoring.
DT Jalen Redmond
The Vikings missed Redmond in the Seattle game, as the rising, undrafted star was held back on a short week after entering the NFL’s concussion protocol. Redmond had earned himself back-to-back starts prior to the injury, helping to bolster the team’s run defense. He was estimated as a limited participant on Wednesday, which signals that he’s on track to return. Jihad Ward saw his highest defensive snap count (51) of the season in the Seattle game, so it remains to be seen how the reps are distributed between Redmond, Ward and Jerry Tillery.
LB Ivan Pace Jr.
Another undrafted, diamond-in-the-rough find for Minnesota, Pace has been on injured reserve and out of the lineup since Week 12 with a hamstring injury. The Vikings opened his 21-day practice window this week, and Pace was estimated as a full-go on Wednesday. Barring a setback, the Vikings could be welcoming back a key piece on the second level of their defense, just in time for this season’s stretch run.
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