Minnesota Vikings transactions and injury report ahead of Week 14

The Minnesota Vikings will be missing players and made some moves for Sunday.

The game between the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be an important one in the scope of the NFC playoff picture. Both teams are looking to grab one of the conference’s Wild Card spots and a win on Sunday would be huge for either squad.

According to the official website of the Vikings, Minnesota will be without a few important pieces of their team and will need to do their best to replace that productivity if they hope to make their way into the postseason.

Here is the list of Vikings players who have either been ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers or whose status is up in the air for the contest:

• LB Eric Kendricks – OUT (calf)
• RB Alexander Mattison – OUT (illness)
• TE Kyle Rudolph – DOUBTFUL (foot)
• TE Irv Smith Jr. – QUESTIONABLE (back)

With two players ruled out and two more possibly missing the game, the Minnesota Vikings looked to make some transaction on Sunday in order to have a competitive group of players on the field against Tampa Bay.

For that reason, The team made two corresponding moves on Saturday. Here is the official announcement from the official Twitter account of the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota seems to be giving themselves some bodies at linebacker since they will be without Eric Kendricks. Plus, linebackers can be very versatile players, allowing them to be on defense or special teams or even squeeze in as an extra body in run or pass support based on the situation.

Signing Hardy Nickerson to the main roster seems like a good move. He has played at a solid level in Week 3 and 4 for Minnesota and since the unit needs at least one body added to their roster, Nickerson is a good choice.

Meanwhile, the elevation of Blake Lynch is interesting. one. He has yet to play a snap for the Vikings according to Football Guys but, in college, he played multiple positions including cornerback, safety, running back, and wide receiver. His athleticism and versatility could come in handy.

Finally, the release of Curtis Riley shouldn’t be too shocking. The safety was active for the last six weeks, yet only participated in one snap for the team. This makes Josh Metellus the only official safety behind Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith on the depth chart.

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Hopefully, the Minnesota Vikings made some smart moves heading into Week 14 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and can find a way to get a victory to greatly improve their chances of making an appearance in the postseason.