Tag: Josh Metellus

Vikings to Start Brandel and Metellus over Darrisaw and Smith

The Vikings are being cautious with both star players

The Minnesota Vikings sit at 10-2 and to ensure that they will be as healthy as possible for the stretch run, they are staying cautious.

According to The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, the Vikings will be cautious and both left tackle Christian Darrisaw and safety Harrison Smith will not be starting on Sunday against the Detroit Lions. Blake Brandel and Josh Metellus will be getting the starts in their places.

Darrisaw just cleared the concussion protocol this past Friday after suffering two concussions in eight days. They also just placed cornerback Akayleb Evans on injured reserve after he suffered his third concussion of the season against the New York Jets last Sunday so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. The medical staff takes concussions seriously.

Smith has been dealing with a neck injury this week and they are also taking things slowly with him.

One thing that is intriguing is that Goessling didn’t report directly that either player was out for the game, meaning they could still suit up and get some playing time and just won’t get the start.

Having both Brandel and Metellus get the start doesn’t make it time to panic. Brandel has played well in his two starts this season and Metellus got the game-clinching interception in the first game against the Lions this season.

The Vikings kick off against the Lions on Sunday at noon.

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Harrison Smith clears concussion protocol

The Vikings safety has cleared concussion protocol

The Minnesota Vikings got some great news after their 28-24 clunker of a victory over the Detroit Lions this past Sunday.

Starting safety Harrison Smith missed the game with a concussion as he was still in the concussion protocol. Third-year player Josh Metellus started in his place and had a banner game. He had a PFF grade of 82.7 and made the game-winning interception on Lions quarterback Jared Goff.

During his press conference on Monday afternoon, head coach Kevin O’Connell said that Smith has cleared the concussion protocol and would play on Sunday morning against the New Orleans Saints in London.

This is great news for the Vikings as the Saints have three talented receivers and an explosive running back in Alvin Kamara. While Metellus was really good against the Lions, he’s not Smith.

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Lewis Cine doesn’t play a defensive snap vs Lions

The Vikings first-round pick didn’t play a single defensive snap on Sunday

The Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions on Sunday by a score of 28-24. It wasn’t the prettiest game but it showed a lot about the Vikings moving forward.

On defense, the team only allowed 24 points which feels impressive when the Lions were as consistent on offense as they were. On the back end, they didn’t allow any deep ball completions without Harrison Smith who was out with a concussion.

In Smith’s place, the coaching staff refused to name a starter between Josh Metellus and Lewis Cine stating that they had ideas for each player during the game.

The defense ended up playing 75 snaps on Sunday and Metellus out-snapped Cine a whopping 75-0 per ESPN stats and info. The major deficit had Cine tweeting out of frustration.

On Saturday, we wrote about Cine and if it should be a concern that he had only played one defensive snap. He needed time to develop and get used to the speed of the game. After getting zero defensive snaps and just 15 on special teams for the second-straight week, maybe it is time to be a little bit concerned.

As far as Metellus, he played a great game on Sunday. On the last drive, he almost made the game-ending interception and followed it up by actually ending the game with an interception. Putting in Metellus was a good move but not seeing Cine in for even a few plays was inherently frustrating.

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Josh Metellus starts over Lewis Cine

The Vikings picked the former sixth-round pick over the rookie first-round pick Lewis Cine

The Minnesota Vikings deferred the coin toss to the Detroit Lions, meaning that the purple and gold choe to start the game on defense.

In doing so, we got an answer to the biggest question over the last 48 hours since we knew Harrison Smith was going to be missing the game due to a concussion.

When he got hurt during Monday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles, third-year player Josh Metellus got into the game over rookie first-round pick Lewis Cine.

On the first play of the game, it was Metellus that got the start over Cine. It shouldn’t be a cause for concern for Cine as we noted in an article from Saturday afternoon.

It should be noted that defensive coordinator Ed Donatell mentioned that they had situations that they wanted to use both players during Sunday’s game. Time will tell if that ends up being the case.

Lewis Cine makes NFL debut in odd fashion

The Vikings first-round pick barely made his debut on Monday night

The Minnesota Vikings had a tough night in Philadelphia on Monday night. They lost in tough fashion to the Eagles by a score of 24-7.

The highlights were few and far between with only a few players that had noteworthy positive performances. One of those players was rookie cornerback Akayleb Evans who played well on his 10 snaps Monday night.

Another rookie that ended up playing was first-round pick safety Lewis Cine. After missing the season opener, Cine made his debut on Monday night in one of the weirder debuts for a first round pick.

Why was it weird? He only played in one play. Yes, just one defensive play.

Even though he was listed ahead of Josh Metellus on the depth chart, he played in nine less snaps with Metellus playing in 10 on defense. He did play in 15 special teams snaps but the lack of time on defense especially with the safeties struggling is puzzling at best.

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Vikings 2022 season preview: Safeties

We continue our 2022 season preview series with the safeties

In a similar vein to how fans felt when Mike Zimmer took over for Leslie Frazier, the excitement is palpable for the beginning of the Kevin O’Connell era.

While the team prepares for the season, we are doing the same at the Vikings Wire. We will be producing previews breaking down both each position and the team as a whole.

Today, we continue with our preview series by talking about the defensive line.

Quarterback Preview
Running Back Preview
Wide Receiver preview
Tight End Preview
Offensive Tackle Preview
Defensive Line Preview
Outside Linebacker/Edge Preview
Middle Linebacker Preview
Cornerback Preview

Instant analysis from the Vikings 23-13 loss vs the Broncos on Saturday

The Vikings lost a tough game to the Broncos, dropping them to 0-3 in the preseason

The Minnesota Vikings played well at times but lost a tough game to the Denver Broncos 23-13.

The focus was on the quarterbacks, as the Viking acquired Nick Mullens from the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday morning. He did not get into the game, so we got Sean Mannion in the first half and Kellen Mond in the second half

Both guys struggled throughout the game. Mannion went 9-of-16 for 121 yards and had the worst play of the game for the Vikings. He was strip-sacked and Baron Browning took it for what ended up being the game-winning touchdown.

When Kellen Mond took over in the second half, things didn’t get any better. He finished 10-of-17 for 102 yards while looking lost and uncomfortable in the pocket during the entire half.

The biggest takeaway regarding the quarterback position is it shouldn’t have either Mannion or Mond rostered as neither has proven that they can be a quality NFL quarterback.

Running back Ty Chandler looked like the best Viking on the field, showcasing his elite burst and speed with great vision. He finished the day with five rushes for 44 yards at a staggering 8.8 yards per rush.

The defense had a lot of ups and downs. Some of that was due to the injuries that the unit sustained. They also got caught over pursuing consistently, including on a reverse touchdown for Montrell Washington.

Myles Dorn was the highlight of the defense. He was all over the field on Saturday night with six tackles and two passes defended. With Metellus getting injured early on, Dorn might have earned himself a roster spot.

Now that the preseason is done, the Vikings look toward two dates: cut down day on August 30th and week one against the Green Bay Packers on September 11th.

Finishing winless in the preseason isn’t ideal, but the development of players and talent evaluation is more important. The Vikings have a lot of decisions to make over the next 72 hours and you can keep track of all those decisions here.

Two Vikings ruled out with injuries

Tough news for the Vikings in their final preseason game

Injuries have hit the Vikings hard in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos.

First, linebacker Brian Asamoah limped off the field on his own power on a screen pass. He did return to the game on the next possession.

Shortly thereafter, two Minnesota Vikings were ruled out with injuries. T.Y. McGill (ankle) and Troy Dye (foot) both will not return.

On the second drive, safety Josh Metellus also went down with an injury. The Vikings only suited up 52 players, meaning their options at each position are limited just like a regular game.

Not what you want to see for the Vikings.

Vikings activate S Josh Metellus off COVID-19/Reserve

Vikings S Josh Metellus is back.

The Vikings are down to just one player on the COVID-19/Reserve list.

S Josh Metellus is off the list. Minnesota placed him there on Nov. 16. Metellus has played in all but one game this season. Now that he’s back, he can serve as depth on defense and earn some reps on special teams.

Vikings DT Dalvin Tomlinson is now the lone player who resides on the COVID-19/Reserve list.

With how often the Vikings play their starting safeties, the team probably won’t be giving a ton of defensive snaps to Metellus, barring an injury.

Also, S Camryn Bynum moved up the depth chart, so Metellus may not be the first man off the bench. But he is a crucial player for the special teams unit. The Vikings could use him as the team tries to pull off an upset Sunday over the 49ers. Minnesota and San Francisco both sit at 5-5 heading into the game.

Vikings make several roster moves

The Vikings made plenty of moves on Tuesday.

The Vikings made various roster moves on Tuesday — some had to do with the COVID-19/Reserve list and others had to do with the practice squad.

The Vikings activated C Garrett Bradbury from the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Minnesota has a decision to make about which player should start at center in Week 11 against Green Bay: Bradbury or the fill-in starter Mason Cole.

The team also activated T Timon Parris off the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Minnesota placed S Josh Metellus on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said that S Harrison Smith is expected to be activated off the list on Wednesday, so Metellus’ presence on the active roster isn’t nearly as dire now.

The Vikings also made some practice squad choices. The team signed FB Garrett Groshek to that team. Minnesota still has fellow FB Jake Bargas on the practice squad. The Vikings released C Cohl Cabral from the practice squad, too.