Ideally, the Minnesota Vikings would love to have Christian Darrisaw back on the field and starting at left tackle when they open the 2025 regular season against the Chicago Bears on September 8th. Based on the update that was shared about Darrisaw on Thursday, that might actually be closer to becoming a reality than previously anticipated.
Following the team's final mandatory minicamp practice of the week on Thursday, Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell spent some time answering a few questions from the local Twin Cities media. At one point in the discussion, O'Connell shared some new details about Darrisaw's current status and how his recovery progress is going after suffering a torn ACL last October.
"He has been phenomenal. It was just a matter of he's progressed to a point that if you put some trainers out in front of him, we're going to have to go find those trainers after he throws them over the fence because he's that strong. So, we had to get him back around real football players because of where he's at.
That doesn't mean his timeline has necessarily changed or what we thought. All I've told Christian is let's worry about that when it's time to worry about that. All you can control is the here, the now, the present, and just continue to set weekly goals that he is crushing in a really positive way."
Optimism high for Christian Darrisaw, but Minnesota Vikings still shouldn't rush him back
Earlier this week, Darrisaw took part in one of the Vikings practices for the first time since injuring his knee last October. It's a great sign that he's progressing along well with his recovery, but Minnesota and its fans still need to avoid overreacting.
Yes, it's possible that Darrisaw could be recovered enough in time to join his teammates on the field in Week 1. But O'Connell was quick to cap his praise of the talented offensive tackle on Thursday with a reminder that his current progress hasn't changed the recovery timeline that the team has previously set for him.
Last season, the Vikings let tight end T.J. Hockenson take his time when recovering from a similar injury, and he didn't end up playing until Week 9. With Darrisaw still only 26-years-old and under contract through the 2029 season, Minnesota will probably let him take as much time as he needs to recover as well.