Vikings escape potential disaster with recent cornerback injury

The Minnesota Vikings defense has taken some major hits lately, particularly in the secondary. The tragic death of Khyree Jackson hit the team and fans like a ton of bricks and a season-ending ACL injury will prevent Mekhi Blackmon from taking the field in in 2024.

Despite those major losses, Minnesota still has talent available at cornerback. Byron Jones Jr. and Shaquill Griffin will likely be the team's starters with Akayleb Evans, Duke Shelley, Andrew Booth Jr., and others providing depth.

The Vikings will need those individuals to play great football this season. The NFC North is full of dynamic passing attacks Minnesota will need to attempt to slow down multiple times and doing so without having the best possible players available will be a true challenge.

Vikings escape potential disaster with recent cornerback injury

Recently, Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune talked about Minnesota Vikings training camp on X (formerly Twitter) and shared that cornerback Shaquill Griffin has a soft tissue injury to his left leg according to head coach Kevin O'Connell.

An injury that could have been a potential disaster for the Vikings, Goessling shared that the tissue injury will be monitored day-to-day with any decisions about his health being made based on those evaluations

Losing another cornerback would have put Minnesota in a tough place. After the recent Duke Shelley signing, the Vikings are in a position where they are likely open to exploring free agent options at cornerback but could also feel solid with their current crop of defensive backs.

Griffin was named to the Pro Bowl in 2019 and has started 79 games since joining the league in 2017. Having a player with his experience and ability available for the upcoming season would be a boost to an otherwise young and inexperienced group of cornerbacks on Minnesota's roster.

Hopefully, Griffin's injury doesn't linger and heals fully before the start of the season. It would not be surprising if the Vikings are extremely cautious with this injury considering the team's cornerback situation entering the 2024 NFL season.

It does sound like the injury isn't serious enough to jeopardize his status for the upcoming year. With seven NFL seasons under his belt, Shaquill Griffin doesn't need a lot of the drills that newer defenders would benefit from. However, since this is his first season playing for Brian Flores in the Minnesota Vikings defense, he will still need to acclimate to the purple and gold.

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