When word broke that Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. needed to have surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee and would miss the start of the regular season.
It looks like Smith will be missing a lot more than that. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Smith had the surgery on Wednesday morning and it appears that doctors did a full repair because it is expected to be a four-to-five month timeline for his full recovery.
Given the timing of the surgery, that makes it likely that Smith, who had 30 catches for 365 yards and five touchdowns last season, will not play at all for the Vikings in 2021.
The Vikings agreed to a trade on Tuesday to prepare for life without Smith. They are set to acquire Chris Herndon from the Jets to go with Tyler Conklin and Brandon Dillon, but more moves could come as roster continue to be tweaked around the league ahead of Week One.