Cook, Mattison practice in full for Vikings; Kendricks held out

Two running backs were back in practice for Minnesota, but there were key defensive players held out.

The good news: The Vikings had their top two running backs as full participants in Wednesday’s practice as the team prepares for the Saints in the wild card round on Sunday.

Both Dalvin Cook (shoulder) and Alexander Mattison (ankle) were full participants.

Other players listed as full participants include cornerback Mike Hughes (neck), safety Jayron Kearse (foot), cornerback Xavier Rhodes (ankle) and defensive tackle Shamar Stephen (knee).

Defensive lineman Ifeadi Odenigbo (hamstring) was limited.

The bad news: The Vikings were without three key defensive contributors. Most notably, linebacker Eric Kendricks was held out with a quad injury. Also out of practice was cornerback Mackensie Alexander (knee), safety Andrew Sendejo (illness) and defensive end Stephen Weatherly (illness).

We’ll see if the Vikings can get any of these players back to practice on Thursday.