Vikings Place Michael Jenkins, 3 Others on IR; Sign 4 Replacements

Injuries have hit the Vikings hard in the second half of the season, and today the team was forced to make several moves as a result. No fewer than 4 players were placed on season-ending IR on Tuesday and 4 players were signed to take their places.

Husain Abdullah (concussion), Michael Jenkins (knee), Cullen Loeffler (back) and Tyrell Johnson (hamstring) are the four being sent to IR. Abdullah has missed several weeks after suffering a concussion, while the other three were all injured in Sunday’s game against the Falcons, Loeffler in somewhat controversial fashion. Abdullah and Johnson are both free agents after the year and may have played their last game in purple (Abdullah probably still has a chance to come back, Johnson not so much).

To replace Loeffler, the Vikings tried out four long-snappers on Tuesday, finally settling on former Badger Matt Katula (Jared Allen will be relieved). Abdullah and Johnson will be replaced in the secondary by safeties Jarrad Page and Andrew Sendejo, though I would expect Mistral Raymond and Jamarca Sanford will get the lion’s share of the snaps. Jenkins’ place will be taken by WR Stephen Burton who was placed on waivers by the Vikings just last week when they signed Allen Reisner off the practice squad. Incidentally, the Vikings on Monday also made a practice squad move, signing their own former draft pick Mickey Schuler.

Got all that? If not, I wouldn’t worry about it. I doubt we will need to remember any of the new guys’ names after this season. The Vikes are just picking up warm bodies at this point. The goal now is to get through the rest of the season without anyone getting killed or maimed.

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