The Minnesota Vikings will be down a starter on Sunday when they face their NFC North Division rivals in Green Bay, but they'll also get a couple guys back.
The Vikings officially on Friday ruled linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. out of the game against the Packers due to an ankle injury but didn't list any other players with injury designations. That's huge, considering a total of 12 players (two for rest reasons) were listed on the injury report throughout the week.
It also means that wide receiver Jordan Addison and rookie edge Dallas Turner are on track to return for Sunday's game. Addison suffered an ankle injury in the first half of the season-opener against the New York Giants and hasn't played since while Turner suffered a knee injury in Week 2 that sidelined him all of last week.
Those two should provide a big boost for Minnesota on each side of the ball.
Linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill is expected to fill in for Pace for the second consecutive week. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell praised Grugier-Hill's play against Houston and expressed confidence in him going into this weekend's divisional clash.
"(He) was flying around, just a veteran presence. I thought that was critical," O'Connell said of Grugier-Hill. "A guy that hasn't been talked about a lot but has a huge role, especially on (special) teams when we are healthy, but a guy that can walk right in the huddle and command a lot of respect from his teammates with how prepared he is and I know we can really rely on him."
O'Connell said he expects Pace will be able to return in the very near future.
"Getting really close. Hope to have him next week but we wanna give … be smart with Ivan and give him the weekend so we can get him up and rolling," O'Connell said. "He's done a nice job in his rehab and he's right around the corner from being right back out there with us full-time."
The head coach also provided a positive update on the statuses of tight end T.J. Hockenson and guard Dalton Risner, who are both on injured reserve and will be eligible to return next week, although O'Connell wouldn't commit to that right away. However, he said both are doing well and should return soon. Given that the Vikings have a bye week after next week's game, which will be played in London, it wouldn't be surprising for the team to wait until Week 7 to activate those guys.
