With the Minnesota Vikings' first official practice of training camp just days away, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell addressed the media at the TCO Performance Center on Tuesday.
Several topics were discussed, of course, but one thing that undoubtedly stood out was O'Connell offering up a few key injury updates, all of which will get Vikings fans fired up as he announced that left tackle Christian Darrisaw, new right guard Will Fries, and new wide receiver Rondale Moore will NOT begin training camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
That's nothing but great news for Minnesota, as all three dealt with devastating injuries a season ago, and O'Connell made it a point to praise the entire trio for getting themselves ready to compete.
"I want to highlight the work they did in the summer, to put themselves in position to be on the grass in different capacities," O'Connell said on Tuesday.
Minnesota Vikings share great injury updates heading into 2025 training camp
Darrisaw, of course, tore both the ACL and MCL in his left knee during Minnesota's Week 8 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams last October, thus ending a campaign that very well could have resulted in the first Pro Bowl selection of his career.
Thankfully for the Vikings, they were quickly able to fill the hole left by Darrisaw's absence, engaging in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars less than a week later to acquire Cam Robinson.
Fries, who inked a five-year, $87.72 million deal with the Vikings back in March after spending the first four years of his career with the Indianapolis Colts, suffered his season-ending injury just a few weeks earlier, fracturing his right tibia in a Week 5 loss to those same Jaguars.
In the five games in which he did appear, Fries earned an 86.9 overall PFF grade, easily the highest mark of his career.
Moore was set to play the 2024 season with the Atlanta Falcons after being traded by the Arizona Cardinals in the deal that sent quarterback Desmond Ridder to Glendale. But the 2021 second-round pick never took a single snap in a Falcons uniform, as he suffered a serious knee injury during training camp.
Moore signed a one-year, $2 million "prove it" deal with the Vikings and could challenge Jalen Nailor for snaps as the team's third option at wide receiver behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
O'Connell will undoubtedly be cautious with all three when camp begins, but just having them available at all is a great sign.