Pat Elflein not healthy enough to participate in Vikings training camp
By Adam Patrick
Entering his second season with the Minnesota Vikings, the young center is still recovering from an ankle injury and will begin training camp on the PUP list.
Throughout this past offseason, there were a number of questions surrounding the health of Minnesota Vikings center Pat Elflein. Recovering from a surgically repaired ankle, Elflein did not participate in the Vikings’ minicamp or any of the team’s OTA practices this year.
The hope was that he would be ready in time for training camp this week, but that does not appear to be the case.
On Wednesday, Minnesota announced that Elflein will begin camp on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. The Vikings’ center is not required to stay on the PUP list for a certain amount of time, but he must be cleared by team doctors first before he is allowed to practice.
Minnesota Vikings
His designation does somewhat explain why Minnesota added another interior offensive lineman on Tuesday when they signed rookie J.P. Quinn. With Elflein’s return date unknown, Quinn will get an opportunity to make a good impression on the Vikings’ coaching staff.
It’s not too surprising that Elflein is beginning training camp on the PUP list. The young center sustained his injury during Minnesota’s NFC Championship loss last January after fellow Vikings offensive lineman Mike Remmers fell on the back of his ankle.
There is no timetable for Elflein’s return, but one should imagine he won’t miss too much practice time over the next few weeks. Especially considering Minnesota felt there was a good chance that he could have been ready to participate in the first full-team practice of training camp this year.
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It’s definitely something to keep an eye on. But at this point, the worry level should still be pretty low for the Vikings regarding Elflein’s health heading into the regular season.