Vikings get much-needed injury news on impact player

The Minnesota Vikings got great news on a player who has really impacted wins so far this season.

At 9-2, the Minnesota Vikings are sitting pretty going into Week 13 of the NFL season. Though the Philadelphia Eagles have a slightly better record than Minnesota, the Vikings  are right there with them at the top of the NFC.

With a 99 percent chance to win the division they have left in the dust, the Vikings do still have a shot at a first-round bye, though FiveThirtyEight only gives them a 17 percent chance there. A win this week improves their chances by three percent according to the model.

But with how their strong record has positioned them, they’re looking ahead toward the postseason, and one piece of injury news looks great for what they’ll need there.

Christian Darrisaw is on his way back from injury

Left tackle Christian Darrisaw is working his way back from a concussion, back at practice today. Darrisaw did have a red jersey on, so he’s still not participating in contact drills, but being back in any capacity is great news for the Vikings.

Darrisaw has achieved a very high grade of 90.0 from Pro Football Focus so far this season, allowing just two sacks and receiving a lone penalty flag.

We’re not that far removed from the Vikings’ Week 11 beatdown at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys, where Dallas lost 40-3 and Kirk Cousins was sacked seven times.

Notably, though, Darrisaw left that game only playing in 32 percent of the offensive snaps, leading to a weaker Vikings OL for the rest of the game. He sustained the concussion he’s recovering from now in the second quarter of the Dallas game. In a scary sequence, it was actually his second consecutive game sustaining a concussion.

Darrisaw is hugely important in protecting Kirk Cousins, who has had the fifth-highest pocket time on average this season.

He’s not ready just yet, but that’s OK. The Vikings really need him back for the postseason, and him working toward that return is big.