Vikings News: Patrick Peterson out of action for at least three games

Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson suffered a hamstring injury during the team’s Week 6 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Trailing the Minnesota Vikings by eight points with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter on Sunday, the Carolina Panthers began a comeback attempt on their own four-yard line.

On their first play of the drive, Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold threw a deep pass to the left side of the field in the direction of wide receiver D.J. Moore. The pass ended up resulting in an incompletion, however, Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson suffered a hamstring injury on the play that forced him to miss the rest of the game.

Peterson will now miss at least three more games as Minnesota announced on Monday that they are placing the veteran cornerback on injured reserve, keeping him off the field until at least Week 11.

Vikings News: Patrick Peterson absence makes next stretch of games even tougher for Minnesota

Initially, Peterson’s injury was classified as cramps by the Vikings. But that obviously wasn’t the case since he couldn’t even walk off the field without the help of the team’s training staff.

With Minnesota placing him on injured reserve, the All-Pro corner will have to sit out for at least the next three games.

The Vikings have their bye next week, so the earliest Peterson could return is in Week 11. Unfortunately, the three matchups that he is definitely going to be sidelined for will come against the 5-1 Dallas Cowboys, the 5-1 Baltimore Ravens, and the 4-2 Los Angeles Chargers.

Minnesota second-year cornerback Cam Dantzler has made it known this year that he wants more opportunities to get on the field. Now, Dantzler has a great chance to help make up for the loss of Peterson and prove that he deserves to get more playing time.

Even with Dantzler on the roster though, it will be interesting to see if the Vikings look to bring in a free-agent cornerback during their week off. Depending on how severe Peterson’s injury is, bringing in another veteran corner is definitely something for Minnesota to consider.