The Vikings expect right tackle Brian O'Neill, safety Lewis Cine and cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. — all recovering from surgeries — to be ready for training camp this summer.
On Thursday at TCO Performance Center, head coach Kevin O'Connell and executive director of player health and performance Tyler Williams provided updates on the three players who have rehabbed at team facilities this offseason. Cine, the 2022 first-round pick from Georgia who suffered compound fractures to his tibia and fibula on Oct. 2 in London, could be ready for spring practices with new defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
"We're looking at ... some time in the third week or so of May," O'Connell said of Cine's return. "We'll take a pretty similar [OTA schedule] to what we did last year. We're talking about some things with a new defensive scheme [that] we'll try to do to help accelerate that. The hope is we'll have Lew for the start of that process."
Booth, a 2022 second-round pick out of Clemson, underwent a lateral meniscus repair in his left knee in November; he has a six-to-eight month recovery period, according to O'Connell. Booth is expected to be limited this spring and ready for training camp.
The Vikings' rebuilding defense needs all hands on deck after Minnesota ranked 27th in snaps per game by rookies last season on offense and defense.
"We love having those two guys working together," O'Connell said. "A big part of our nucleus being first- and second-round draft picks from a year ago. ... We're looking for those guys to make huge impacts here moving forward."
O'Neill, who suffered a partially torn Achilles and calf injury on Jan. 1 in Green Bay, no longer needs a walking boot and also expects to be ready for training camp, O'Connell said. He added that coaches will "be smart" with O'Neill, a team captain who is entering his sixth NFL season.
Williams, who leads the Vikings' player performance and training staff, said O'Neill suffered an avulsion fracture to his right ankle in which about 40% of the Achilles tendon was affected.
"That should set him up for success," Williams added. "Usually the athlete is what makes the rehab success shine and go, and his process and approach to everything he does is great."
O'Connell and Williams spoke to local reporters Thursday to shed light on the team's processes with player health and performance, a week after an NFLPA leaguewide survey gave the Vikings the best average score across eight categories that included training room, training staff, nutrition, weight room, and strength staff. The Vikings received at least an A- in every category from players.
"I felt very humbled and honored to see that," said Williams, who followed O'Connell from the Rams to the Vikings. "It was just a great representation of our organization as a whole. It's very hard to make the players feel like that if they don't have a great facility to walk into, a great cafeteria, if the ownership doesn't provide us with the tools and resources."
In the first season under the new regime, only two starters, cornerback Cameron Dantzler and tight end Irv Smith Jr., had extended stays on injured reserve; O'Neill was injured in the season's penultimate game.
One analysis site, Football Outsiders, attempts to quantify how teams were affected by injuries with an "Adjusted Games Lost" metric, weighing starter absences more than backup absences and accounting for playing injured through injury reports. The Vikings ranked as the fifth healthiest last season, improving from 21st in 2021.
O'Connell was asked about lessening the physical toll on players in training camp and the preseason after winning an NFL-record 11 one-score games.
"It's hard to not think it helped in those moments," he said. "When you're not smashing each other's heads in training camp, you can probably talk about some situational football."
