The Minnesota Vikings center reportedly went under the knife to repair his shoulder in addition to having his ankle worked on this offseason.
Football is a very violent sport and the after-effects on a player’s body can sometimes resemble something similar to the injuries sustained from multiple car accidents. In his first season with the Minnesota Vikings last year, center Pat Elflein’s body got a full dose of the weekly abuse that comes with playing in the league today.
Many are well aware of the fact that Elflein underwent surgery to repair a fractured ankle this offseason. However, the Vikings center apparently had an additional surgical procedure this year as well.
Minnesota Vikings
According to the Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling on Wednesday, Elflein also underwent surgery this offseason to repair an injured shoulder.
The Minnesota center sustained the injury to his shoulder during the team’s Week 13 win over the Atlanta Falcons last season. It ended up causing him to miss the Vikings’ Week 14 and Week 15 games last year.
After finding this news out, it’s even less surprising that Elflein is beginning Minnesota’s 2018 training camp on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.
He’s not expected to miss too much of Vikings camp this year, but it would be more understandable if he did sit out longer now considering he is recovering from two offseason surgeries and not just one.
Elflein was a part of a Minnesota offensive line that made great strides in 2017. Given that he was only a rookie last season, the Vikings center is expected to progress even more this season once he is able to get back out onto the field.