Minnesota Vikings Inactives: Week 17 vs. the Chicago Bears

Rookie center Pat Elflein is among those sitting out on Sunday for the Minnesota Vikings as they take on the Chicago Bears.

As the Minnesota Vikings head out on the field for their Week 17 matchup with the Chicago Bears, the team’s offensive line will be looking a little different than it has for most of the year.

Thanks to the injury report that the Vikings released on Friday, it was already known that talented rookie center Pat Elflein would not be playing this week due to a shoulder injury. This is the second time in the past four weeks that Elflein’s ailing shoulder has kept him off the field.

In addition to their young center being unavailable, Minnesota announced early Sunday who else would be inactive for their game against the Bears.

Like Elflein, Shamar Stephen and Tramaine Brock were declared out for Week 17 when Friday’s injury report was released. Besides those three, the other players among the Vikings’ inactives are no real surprise as most of them have been healthy scratches for the majority of the season.

So in place of Elflein on Sunday, the Vikings will be starting veteran Joe Berger at center. Berger has been the team’s right guard for 2017, but he was also Minnesota’s starting center back in 2015. So he has plenty of experience at the position.

With Berger’s move to the middle, the Vikings also had to make a few more changes to their offensive line for Sunday.

It is a little intriguing that Mike Remmers will be shifting inside against Chicago. With Berger’s expected retirement after this season, Remmers at right guard could possibly become something permanent in 2018.

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Outside of the offensive line (and long snapper), Minnesota’s lineup on Sunday will look pretty normal as they attempt to get their 13th win of the season, capture the NFC’s second seed, and a first-round playoff bye.