Vikings tight end Josh Oliver left Sunday’s win over the Buccaneers with an injury that could keep him off the field for a long time.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Oliver is believed to have a torn biceps. He will have an MRI on Monday to confirm that diagnosis and would be out indefinitely if the testing shows a tear.
Oliver played more than half the team’s offensive snaps during their 3-0 start to the season. He had three catches for 46 yards in the first two games, but did not have any catches in Tampa.
T.J. Hockenson is the lead tight end for the Vikings. Gavin Bartholomew is the only other tight end on the 53-man roster.
Vikings Clips
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson left Sunday’s game in the first quarter with an ankle injury and did not return before the end of Minnesota’s 23-16 win over the Buccaneers.
At a postgame press conference, head coach Kevin O’Connell said that Jefferson “got close” to returning to the game but was ultimately ruled out. O’Connell also said that Jefferson will be evaluated more on Monday.
Mike Florio reported on Football Night in America that an MRI will be part of that evaluation and that the Vikings hope Jefferson is dealing with a low-ankle injury.
Jefferson had two catches for 32 yards before leaving the game. He has 13 catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns on the season,.
The Vikings won’t be thrilled with how their offense performed in Sunday’s 23-16 win over the Buccaneers, but they had plenty to like on defense.
Brian Flores’s group sacked Baker Mayfield six times and pressured him into an interception that sealed the win just after the two minute warning. The Bucs added their final points of the day on a field goal shortly after the injury and rookie Jalon Daniels took the final snaps for the Bucs because Mayfield was already in the locker room.
Mayfield left because he slammed his right thumb into Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman while being hit after throwing the aforementioned interception. Mayfield’s post-play screams of pain could be heard on the Fox broadcast and he went directly to the locker room after getting up. Mayfield ended the day 17-of-34 for 217 yards and a touchdown and the 0-3 Bucs will be hoping that the news on his thumb is better than it seemed on the field.
The Vikings only picked up 77 yards of offense after the break as Kyler Murray struggled to move the ball. He was sacked three times while going 15-of-29 for 168 yards. A good chunk of those yards came on 30- and 41-yard completions to Jordan Addison in the second quarter and the 41-yarder accounted for the Vikings’ only offensive touchdown of the afternoon.
It didn’t help that wide receiver Justin Jefferson was lost for the day to an ankle injury in the first quarter, but relying on defense and special teams every week is a dangerous game to play. The special teams came through with Myles Price’s 86-yard punt return touchdown and three Will Reichard field goals, including a 56-yarder after the Bucs drew within a point in the fourth quarter.
The Vikings will host the 0-3 Dolphins next weekend, so their chances of improving to 4-0 will look good even if there’s no good news about Jefferson. The Buccaneers will host a pretty desperate Packers team in a Week 4 game that could make hot seats even warmer for the losers.
Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson’s day is done.
Jefferson has been ruled out due to the ankle injury he suffered in the first quarter of Sunday’s game in Tampa. Jefferson had two early catches that helped set up a field goal, but the team has been without him for most of the day.
That has not stopped them from taking a 17-10 lead into halftime, but a big play by the Bucs defense made things more interesting shortly after the Bucs announced Jefferson won’t return. Bucs defensive tackle Vita Vea batted a Kyler Murray pass into teammate A’Shawn Robinson’s hands and the Bucs had the first turnover of the day.
The Bucs took over on the Tampa 22-yard-line, but they weren’t able to move the ball and settled for a field goal that made it 17-13 with 7:12 to play in the third quarter.
The Vikings lost Justin Jefferson to an ankle injury during the first half of Sunday’s game in Tampa, but another wide receiver stepped up to make sure they went into halftime with a lead.
Jordan Addison was able to keep his toes on the ground as he caught a 30-yard pass from Kyler Murray to move the Vikings into Buccaneers territory in the second quarter and then he went airborne to snag a 41-yard touchdown pass from the quarterback two plays later. The score made it 17-10 Vikings with 4:11 to play in the half and the Vikings were able to force a punt with 1:46 to play by pressuring Baker Mayfield into a third down incompletion.
The Vikings tried another deep shot to Addison on their ensuing possession, but he wasn’t able to reel this one in. The Vikings punted and the half ended with Minnesota still up by seven points.
Jefferson left the game with an ankle injury in the first quarter and he’s been called questionable to return. He stayed on the sideline for most of the half, but did head to the locker room a little early.
The Bucs lost Jalen McMillan to a knee injury and he has been ruled out. They could use someone to step up like Addison if they’re going to pick up their first win of the year.
The Vikings have quarterback Kyler Murray back in the lineup, but they may have lost their top wide receiver for the rest of the day.
Justin Jefferson left the game to get checked out in the sideline medical tent during the first quarter in Tampa and the team announced that he is considered questionable to return with an ankle injury. Jefferson had two catches for 32 yards on the opening drive of the game.
The Vikings kicked a field goal at the end of that possession and tacked on more points on a Myles Price punt return. The Bucs got on the board on their second possession when Baker Mayfield hit wide receiver Ted Hurst with a 40-yard touchdown to make it 10-7.
The Bucs have also lost a wideout to an injury and they say Jalen McMillan won’t return after hurting his knee.
The NFL’s first punt return touchdown of the 2026 season belongs to Vikings wide receiver Myles Price.
Price fielded a Riley Dixon punt at his own 14-yard line and broke loose for an 86-yard score. The touchdown pushed the Vikings’ lead to 10-0 with 8:43 left to play in the first quarter.
It was the first touchdown of Price’s NFL career.
The Vikings opened the scoring with a seven-play, 40-yard drive that ended with a Will Reichard field goal. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson caught two passes for 32 yards from Kyler Murray on the drive. Murray is returning after being cleared from his Week 1 concussion.
Linebacker Ivan Pace did not travel to Tampa with the Vikings on Saturday, but he made it to Florida in time to play on Sunday.
Pace was listed as questionable for personal reasons, but he avoided the inactive list and will be in the lineup against the Buccaneers. The 2-0 Vikings are trying to send the Buccaneers to their third straight loss.
The Bucs will not have defensive tackle Rakeem Nunez-Roches after he hurt his ankle during pregame warmups. Linebackers Rueben Bain and Josiah Trotter are also out with injuries for the home team.
Cornerback Ayden Garnes, guard Luke Haggard, and guard Billy Schrauth are also inactive for the Bucs. Punter Brett Thorson, cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn, safety Jakobe Thomas, safety Tavierre Thomas, offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan, defensive lineman Elijah Williams, and quarterback J.J. McCarthy are inactive for Minnesota.
In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Vikings-Bears game in Chicago, a wicked hit sent Minnesota running back Aaron Jones’s helmet flying. Jones remained in the game.
The player who delivered the hit has been fined.
The NFL imposed a $22,342 sanction on Bears defensive back Tyrique Stevenson for impermissible use of the helmet. The rulebook prohibits a player from lowering his head and making forcible contact with his helmet against an opponent.
The infraction was not flagged; it rarely is. Typically, the situation is addressed with the imposition of a fine.
Impermissible use of the helmet is not one of the five violations that will result in an automatic suspension if there are three violations.
Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray’s return from a Week 1 concussion adds a separate wrinkle to the Week 3 game against the Buccaneers.
The game means that former Oklahoma teammates Murray and Baker Mayfield will have their fourth NFL meeting. Murray leads, 3-0.
Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma in 2017. Murray replaced Mayfield in 2018, and then Murray won it.
Their personal rivalry takes a back seat to the bigger picture. The Vikings hope to get to 3-0, and the Buccaneers need to avoid slipping to 0-3.
And there’s one interesting wrinkle that plays into the home team’s favor. Mayfield has faced a Brian Flores defense twice in his career. In 2019, Mayfield and the Browns beat the Dolphins. In 2023, Mayfield and the Bucs stunned the Vikings in Flores’s first game as the team’s defensive coordinator. Mayfield had five touchdown passes and one interception in those two games.
