The Vikings were without the services of quarterback Taylor Heinicke for a good chunk of last season while he recovered from a foot injury he suffered while trying to kick in a locked door before training camp.
That means Heinicke can empathize with rookie defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo even if Odenigbo’s own off-field foot injury wasn’t quite as serious. Odenigbo, a seventh-round pick, suffered a deep cut to his foot when he caught it on a loose piece of metal on the gate of the swimming pool at the Eden Prairie hotel that housed players during Vikings OTAs.
“The gate closed on me, and it had some chipped metal and it went right into my heel, so that was my Achilles’ heel,’’ Odenigbo said, via the Pioneer Press. “It was a freak accident. When I was going (through the gate), it just nicked my heel and blood was gushing everywhere. It was a big, deep cut. There was too much skin ripped off for me to have stitches. It was pretty gross. … It was like a fishing rod went into my skin and you yanked the skin out.”
Odenigbo was able to participate in the final practices of the spring, although he said he wasn’t able to wear cleats as a result of the injury and that it “still hurts to put pressure” on the injured foot. That could set him back as he tries to make the team and the back-to-back foot injuries may have other Vikings players watching where they step a little more closely in the future.
