Christian

Darrisaw

Darrisaw tore his left ACL and MCL in October 2024. He retook the field for the first time in Week 3 this season, following the injury, but the knee continued to bother him. He allowed 18 quarterback pressures in 10 games this season. Hopefully, he can put the knee injury behind him with another offseason of rest and rehab.

As was Brian O’Neill (heel), both upgrades from a Wednesday DNP. Christian Darrisaw (knee) remains sidelined. Still, this is a good update for anyone considering playing a Viking against New York’s woeful defense on Sunday. Most of the offensive line is trending towards being up for this contest.

Darrisaw has been in and out of the lineup because of the knee issue this year. With the Vikings officially eliminated from the playoff hunt, he may have played his last snap of the season. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said both Justin Skule and Blake Brandel will get reps at left tackle in practice.

He called it both a “week-to-week” and “day-to-day” situation. Darrisaw was active for Week 14, but missed Week 13 and Week 15 while spending very little time at practice. With the Vikings officially eliminated, it doesn’t make much sense for him to gut this out. We expect Minnesota to shut him down unless his health improves.

Darrisaw’s absence is bad news for the Vikings considering the strength of the Dallas defense is their ability to generate pressure in the backfield. Furthermore, quarterback J.J. McCarthy has been highly sensitive to pressure during his sophomore campaign. Look for head coach Kevin O’Connell to continue the ball-out-quick mentality that saw McCarthy experience a bump in efficiency from a week ago.

He got in a limited session today to get to questionable after two DNPs earlier in the week. Darrisaw was active last week after missing Week 13 and his status seems to very touch-and-go at this point. We imagine he’s a game-time decision for the Vikings in Week 15.

Darrisaw has had a pattern of not practice, practicing limited, and eventually playing due to his knee injury. This week, he starts out not practicing and should not be in jeopardy of missing Week 15 unless he cannot practice at all this week. The franchise left tackle is a key blocker for J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings offense.

Both Darrisaw and LG Donovan Jackson are active after entering the weekend with questionable tags. In addition to both linemen being active, the Vikings will also have J.J. McCarthy back under center against a 3-9 Commanders team that will have Jayden Daniels back under center. The Vikings did declare QB John Wolford, S Theo Jackson, DL Levi Drake Rodriguez, OG Joe Huber, OT Walter Rouse, TE Ben Yurosek, and DL Elijah Williams inactive for Sunday’s game.

Left guard Donovan Jackson remains questionable with an ankle injury. Getting Darrisaw back will be a huge sigh of relief for Vikings fans. J.J. McCarthy is returning to the lineup this week and his struggles under pressure have been well-documented. Even at less than full strength, Darrisaw will shore up McCarthy’s blindside versus Washington.

Darrisaw practiced in full on Wednesday as he continues to rest on Thursdays, but he did not play off a questionable tag in Week 13 and it should not be assumed he’ll be ready for this week’s game. Donovan Jackson (ankle) is also questionable after missing last week’s game and returning to practice on Thursday in a limited session.