The Minnesota Vikings have fully shifted their focus onto the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon.
With practice on Thursday, the injury report was updated but it saw no changes, as both Andrew Booth Jr. (quad) and Harrison Smith (concussion) were the only two players listed and they did not practice for the second-consecutive day.
No changes in today's #Vikings injury report pic.twitter.com/TV6nOmQffF
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 22, 2022
Booth Jr. should be sidelined for the game as he is sixth on the depth chart and should be allowed to fully heal up before coming back.
As far as where Smith is, we don’t know for certain either way. Concussions are a pain to deal with. Things can change daily and we won’t know if he will play on Sunday potentially until Saturday afternoon. Thie interesting element with Smith missing the game is who would take his place.
Defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said that it would be a mix of rookie Lewis Cine and Josh Metellus who see action in place of Smith.
#Vikings DC Ed Donatell when I asked today who would start if Harrison Smith (concussion) can't play Sunday, Josh Metellus or Lewis Cine: "Both will be in the mix. Those are things that we don't know. That's days away. We're prepared, and you could see both of them. Either or."
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) September 22, 2022
Considering Cine was your first-round pick, this is an odd decision. Tomorrow’s injury report will likely fill us in on Sunday’s game.