Tag: Mekhi Blackmon

Vikings release first injury report for Week 18 vs. Lions

The Minnesota Vikings released their first injury report on Wednesday afternoon and it has nine players on it.

The Minnesota Vikings released their first injury report ahead of their week 18 matchup against the Detroit Lions and it has nine players on it.

  • CB Byron Murphy Jr. (knee): Did not practice
  • WR Jalen Nailor (concussion): Did not practice
  • RT Brian O’Neill (ankle): Did not practice
  • DE Jaquelin Roy (ankle): Did not practice
  • CB Mekhi Blackmon (shoulder): Limited
  • RG Ed Ingram (shoulder): Limited
  • S Theo Jackson (toe): Limited
  • TE Nick Muse (knee): Limited
  • S Harrison Smith (shoulder): Limited

Once again, both Murphy and Nailor didn’t practice. They have missed the last two and three games, respectively, due to injury. O’Neill being on the report is likey due to wanting to rest his injured ankle, as he already played last week against the Green Bay Packers.

Muse, Smith and Ingram are all new additions to the report. Ingram left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. The progress throughout the week will determine whether or not they play on Sunday.

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Vikings release inactives: O’Neill returns, Addison and Blackmon active

Brian O’Neill returns on Sunday night against the Green Bay Packers

The Minnesota Vikings have released their inactive list for Sunday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers.

  • QB Josh Dobbs (emergency 3rd QB)
  • CB Byron Murphy Jr.
  • S Theo Jackson
  • G Chris Reed
  • OT Hakeem Adeniji
  • WR Jalen Nailor
  • DE Jaquelin Roy

The biggest news with the inactive list is that right tackle Brian O’Neill, wide receiver Jordan Addison and cornerback Mekhi Blackmon will all be playing on Sunday night. With the Packers missing their two starting cornerbacks, the Vikings can take advantage with the passing game.

Neither Jaire Alexander (suspended list) or Eric Stokes (injured reserve) appear on the inactive list but wide receivers Christian Watson and Dontayvion Wicks do. Here is the full list.

  • WR Christian Watson
  • WR Dontayvion Wicks
  • OLB Brenton Cox
  • ILB De’Vondre Campbell
  • OT Caleb Jones

The game kicks off at 7:20 p.m. CST.

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Mekhi Blackmon expected to play Sunday night vs. Packers

Despite having a shoulder injury, Mekhi Blackmon is expected to play Sunday night

The Minnesota Vikings gain an important player for their defense on Sunday night.

According to SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson, Vikings cornerback Mekhi Blackmon is expected to play against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. He left last week’s game against the Detroit Lions with a shoulder injury.

Blackmon has been a really good player this season for the Vikings as a rookie. A third-round pick out of USC, Blackmon has been a quality player in both zone coverage and man-to-man coverage. This season, Blackmon has a Pro Football Focus grade of 78.1, good enough for 15th/123 among cornerbacks.

The Vikings will need Blackmon to both play and play well as Byron Murphy Jr. is out for his second consecutive game with a knee injury.

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Vikings final Week 17 injury report analysis: 4 out, 3 questionable

The final injury repot has seven Minnesota Vikings highlihgted

The Minnesota Vikings are set to take on their NFC North division rival Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.

Ahead on Sunday’s game, the Vikings released their final injury report on Friday afternoon. Here is everything you need to know.

Should the Vikings draft Bo Nix? Purple Daily on Draft

Is Bo Nix a quarterback the Vikings should target in the NFL Draft? That and more on the latest episode of Purple Daily on Draft

The Minnesota Vikings almost certainly need to address the quarterback position in the offseason. Even if they bring back Kirk Cousins, his health coming back from the Achilles tear he suffered against the Green Bay Packers isn’t a certainty considering he will be entering his age 36 season.

That means the Vikings could be targeting a quarterback in the upcoming NFL draft. Could that player be Oregon QB Bo Nix? How would he either fit or not fit? Does he have enough projectable traits to be a starting quarterback in the National Football League?

The Vikings also hit it big with both Ivan Pace Jr. and Mekhi Blackmon in last year’s NFL draft and undrafted free agent cycle. Why are they having the success they are this season? Is it their talent or the scheme that they are playing in?

Finally, the college football bowl season is here. What games are going to be fun to watch this weekend? How will the transfer portal and opt-outs impact the games?

All of that and more on the latest episode of Purple Daily on Draft, dropping every Monday afternoon on the Purple Daily YouTube channel.

Twitter reacts to Vikings’ keg stand celebration

While the game itself may not be the most exciting, the Vikings defense may have pulled off the celebration of the year.

Games like this between the Minnesota Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders force fans to search for reasons to celebrate.

The Raiders threatened to break the scoreless 0-0 tie after a play to Hunter Renfrow put the Raiders in field-goal range. But a few plays later, safety Josh Metellus had other plans. Metellus punched out a would-be catch-and-run, and rookie Mekhi Blackmon recovered it to give the Vikings possession deep in their territory.

That led to one of the best celebrations one would find this week in the NFL from the Minnesota defense. The defense flipped Blackmon upside down on top of fellow rookie Ivan Pace to replicate a keg stand in celebration of the rookie’s fumble recovery.

Immediately, the football world on Twitter showed their appreciation for the creativity and splendor of the keg stand and Minnesota’s keg stand celebration.

Vikings snap count analysis: Powell clear WR3, Blackmon emerges at CB

Chris Spooner takes a look at a few interesting notes from the Minnesota Vikings’ snap counts from the Monday Night Football loss to the Chicago Bears.

The Minnesota Vikings have now dropped back-to-back games coming off their five-game win streak with another tough loss, this time at the hands of the Chicago Bears by a score of 12-10.

The Vikings defense did all it could to keep the team in the game, keeping Justin Fields and the Bears offense largely in check. Chicago failed to score a touchdown all night, and the defense was able to get not one, but two key turnovers late.

However, the offense was unable to capitalize and gave the Bears defense four turnovers of their own on the night to become the first team all year to lose a game while not allowing a touchdown to the opponent.

While the loss is disappointing, there were some interesting notes from the Vikings snap counts from the game. Here’s the breakdown.

4 defensive keys for Vikings vs. Bears

For the Vikings to slow down Justin Fields and the Bears, they will have to follow these four defensive keys to victory.

The Minnesota Vikings have a chance to better their playoff chances before a much-needed bye week on Monday night against the Chicago Bears (7:20 p.m. CST, ESPN)

After dropping the Sunday night game against the Denver Broncos, Minnesota is still slated at sixth in the playoff race, but a win would give them an 82% chance to make the postseason.

Which, after a deflating 0-3 start, would be yet another testament to the resiliency of this team. To do that, they need to stop this Chicago offense that hasn’t been full-strength since their last meeting.

Justin Fields accounted for 273 yards of total offense in last week’s eventual collapse against the Detroit Lions. This was his first action back since leaving the first meeting against the Vikings with a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand.

The addition of Fields was felt immediately as the Bears were a Tyler Scott completion from salting away a huge upset win against Detroit. This offense cannot be overlooked, despite how well the Minnesota defense has looked recently.

If they want to stop this offense, they must follow these four keys to success on the defensive side.

Vikings snap count analysis: Booth doesn’t play, Powell is WR3

The snap counts from Sunday tell us a lot about who the Vikings have faith in, including Brandon Powell

The Minnesota Vikings lost a tough game to the Denver Broncos on Sunday night by a score of 21-20.

The game was that of an up-and-down nature with Brian Flores’ defense playing well but the constant tough situations they were put in ended up costing them in a major way down the stretch.

What was really interesting about the game itself was how the Vikings used their personnel. The snap counts were very interesting from Sunday’s game. Here is the breakdown.

Studs and duds from Vikings 21-20 loss vs. Broncos

There were plenty of standout performances that we highlighted in the latest studs and duds

The Minnesota Vikings had the turnover bug bite them once again as they fall 21-20 to the Denver Broncos on Sunday night.

Even with the turnovers, the Vikings had chances to win. They could have gone up nine instead of five but they kicked a field goal. They could have driven down the field and won the game with a field goal, but they stalled out.

Yes, there were some missed penalty calls and the defense played well, but the Vikings can only blame themselves.

Throughout the game, there were multiple good and poor performances. Here are the studs and duds from Sunday’s game.