In his third annual stint with the Vikings, running back Cam Akers will have a roster spot on Sunday.
Signed to the practice squad earlier this week, the Vikings have elevated Akers to the game-day roster for the Week 3 game against the Bengals.
The door opened for Akers’s return after starter Aaron Jones suffered a hamstring injury in Week 2. The injury, which resulted in Jones being placed on injured reserve, bumps Jordan Mason to RB1. Zavier Scott is the other healthy Vikings running back.
A second-round pick of the Rams in 2020, Akers was at one point a budding star. A pre-training camp torn Achilles derailed his second season.
The Vikings traded for Akers twice — in 2023 with the Rams and in 2024 with the Texans. This time around, he was a free agent.
Akers has appeared in 53 career regular-season games, with 17 starts. He has 2,025 career rushing yards.
Quarterback remains, by far, the most important position on any NFL team. On Sunday, five of the 28 teams that will be playing won’t have their best quarterback under center to start the game.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is out indefinitely, and reportedly at least three months, after undergoing toe surgery. If the Bengals aren’t in the playoff hunt by the middle of December, he likely won’t play again at all this year.
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels has a knee injury that, for the most part, has been cloaked in secrecy. Nothing was mentioned about it after Washington’s Week 2 loss at Green Bay. A report emerged that he had an MRI the day after the game. The team has taken full advantage of the low bar created by the injury report; no specifics have been reported or mentioned about the injury to his knee or his expected absence.
Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy suffered a high ankle sprain in the Week 2 loss to Atlanta. He’ll miss up to a month.
Jets quarterback Justin Fields will miss Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay after suffering a concussion against the Bills.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has a toe injury and a left shoulder injury from a Week 1 win over the Saints. He’ll miss his second straight start. (There’s a chance he’ll be in uniform as a backup.)
Five of 32 quarterbacks. After only two weeks. And others have been banged up. Packers quarterback Jordan Love continues to appear on the injury report with a left thumb issue, which required in preseason surgery. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a right wrist injury. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield has toe and foot injuries. Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who wasn’t on the Week 3 injury report, took a blow to the nose that left him with noticeable bruising under both eyes (and a face shield) on Thursday night.
It’s a basic reality of full-contact football. Even with quarterbacks more protected than ever, they get hit. With every hit they take, there’s a chance the hit will leave them hurt.
In 2022, the NFL defended seemingly excessive roughing-the-passer penalties by linking quarterback availability to ratings. A rash of quarterback injuries in 2023, however, didn’t affect viewership.
That’s the basic reality. Football is like pizza. When it’s good, it’s good. When it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. And there’s no Sunday alternative to the NFL.
For that reason, an uptick in quarterback injuries won’t impede the NFL’s desire to add an 18th game. (Which inevitably will be followed by a push to add a 19th game.) And it won’t diminish the eventual appetite to increase total inventory by adding teams.
Still, no injury impacts a team like losing its quarterback. On Sunday, five teams will roll the dice with backups.
And we’ll still watch every second of it.
Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw (knee) returned to practice on Friday as a full participant. He is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Bengals.
Darrisaw missed Thursday’s session but was a full participant on Wednesday.
The Vikings ruled out center Ryan Kelly (concussion), quarterback J.J. McCarthy (ankle) and offensive tackle Justin Skule (concussion). Kelly and Skule had limited practice time Friday but did not clear concussion protocol.
Veteran backup Carson Wentz will start for McCarthy, who missed practice all week.
Linebacker Austin Keys (groin) safety Harrison Smith (illness) and linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (concussion) are questionable. Van Ginkel was a full participant on Friday, while Keys and Harrison were limited.
Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard (oblique) returned to full participation on Friday and does not have an injury designation.
The Bengals will be without quarterback Joe Burrow against the Vikings on Sunday and they’ll be shorthanded on the defensive side of the ball.
Rookie defensive end Shemar Stewart has been ruled out for Week 3. The first-round pick did not participate in practice at all this week because of an ankle injury.
The Bengals also placed injury designations on both of their starting cornerbacks. Cam Taylor-Britt is set to miss the game after being listed as doubtful with a hamstring injury that kept him out of practice the last two days.
DJ Turner landed on the injury report on Thursday with a hamstring injury of his own. He’s been limited in practice and is listed as questionable for Sunday.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow had surgery to repair torn ligaments in his toe on Friday morning.
Head coach Zac Taylor made the announcement at his press conference. Taylor told reporters that the surgery went well and that Burrow is recovering.
Reports have indicated that Burrow will miss at least three months as a result of the injury, but Taylor said that there is no concrete timeline in place at present.
Jake Browning replaced Burrow after he was injured last Sunday and is set to start against the Vikings in Week 3. Brett Rypien is on the 53-man roster as his backup and the team signed both Mike White and Sean Clifford to the practice squad this week.
