Captain Munnerlyn ignored his doctors’ recommendations in 2016

After suffering a mid-season ankle injury last year, the Minnesota Vikings’ cornerback returned to the field sooner than his doctors would have liked.

Many football players throughout the NFL’s existence have become known for playing through a variety of injuries during their careers (see Brett Favre, Terrell Owens, Matthew Stafford). It is really just something that has become a normal part of the profession.

So it was not much of a surprise when Minnesota Vikings cornerback Captain Munnerlyn recently told Viking Update that he played most of the 2016 season with a high ankle sprain. The cornerback initially suffered the injury during the Vikings’ Week 9 loss to the Detroit Lions and doctors expected him to spend at least a few weeks on the sideline as a result.

But Munnerlyn only sat out Minnesota’s Week 10 game against the Washington Redskins and then finished the rest of the season on the field with his teammates.

"“I had doctors telling me, ‘No, you’re supposed to be out four to six weeks, six to eight weeks.’ That’s what the indication was and I came back a week later.”– Captain Munnerlyn, Vikings cornerback"

The game against the Redskins was the very first time the cornerback had spent a week on the sidelines during his career with the Vikings and he obviously did not like it. So perhaps last season was not the first instance in which Munnerlyn has fought through an injury to stay out on the field for Minnesota?

Durability has never been a question mark for the cornerback during his time in the NFL. In eight seasons, Munnerlyn has only missed a total of four games (out of a possible 128).

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It probably helped that the cornerback was playing in the final year of his contract with the Vikings in 2016 also. So there was likely just a tiny bit of extra motivation for Munnerlyn to get back on the field as soon as he could.

Just a tiny bit.