Wednesday's first full-team training camp practice was supposed to be a fun and exciting afternoon for the Minnesota Vikings as they inch even closer to the start of the 2024 regular season.
However, the sport of football is very unpredictable, and the Vikings were reminded of this on Wednesday when second-year cornerback Mekhi Blackmon reportedly had to leave practice early after suffering a knee injury, according to The Athletic's Alec Lewis.
The severity of Blackmon's injury is currently unknown, but for a guy who is expected to play a significant role in Minnesota's secondary this season, the team has to be concerned about him getting hurt on Wednesday.
Knee injury "didn't look good" for Minnesota Vikings CB Mekhi Blackmon
When Lewis initially shared a post on X.com about Blackmon's injury, he revealed that the Vikings cornerback limped back to the locker room after being down on the field "for a while" and that it "didn't look good."
That's not exactly an optimistic description, so there seems to be plenty of reasons to be concerned about the injury potentially causing Blackmon to miss significant time during the upcoming season.
In his second year with Minnesota, many have been expecting the former USC defender to enter the 2024 campaign as one of the team's top-three corners, along with Byron Murphy Jr. and Shaq Griffin.
As a rookie last season, Blackmon finished with 41 tackles (three for a loss), eight pass breakups, one interception, and one fumble recovery. His allowed completion rate of 61.5 percent also ranked first among all qualifying Vikings corners in 2023 (minimum of five targets).
So, if Blackmon's knee injury keeps him sidelined for a while, the Vikings are going to need someone from the group of Akayleb Evans, Andrew Booth Jr., Duke Shelley, Dwight McGlothern, and Jaylin Williams to step up and fill the void in their cornerback room.
Hopefully, Blackmon's injury turns out to be much less severe than what Lewis described on Wednesday. But if it actually ends up being serious, then his absence is likely going to be a major blow to Minnesota's secondary this year.
Update: Unfortunately, the worst was confirmed for Blackmon on Wednesday as the knee injury the Vikings cornerback suffered was reportedly a torn ACL, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero. Blackmon will now miss Minnesota's entire 2024 season to recover.