Tag: Sheldon Day

Vikings initial Week 16 injury report has 9 players

Danielle Hunter and Harrison Phillips highlight the initial injury report

The Minnesota Vikings have a lengthy injury report heading into their week 16 winter whiteout game against the Detroit Lions. Their practice was a walkthrough so the report is an estimation.

  • OLB Danielle Hunter (illness): Did not practice
  • RB Alexander Mattison (ankle): Did not practice
  • CB Byron Murphy Jr. (knee): Did not practice
  • WR Jalen Nailor (concussion): Did not practice
  • RT Brian O’Neill (ankle): Did not practice
  • NT Harrison Phillips (back): Did not practice
  • DE Jonathan Bullard (ankle): Limited
  • NT Sheldon Day (ankle): Limited
  • ILB Jordan Hicks (shin): Full

The holdovers from last week are Nailor, O’Neill and Mattison. All three of them not practicing is important in their attempt to come back.

Hunter is the one to keep an eye on, as an illness is something that is difficult to measure and predict.

Murphy and Phillips are both new and didn’t appear to be injured against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hicks returned to practice after having his practice window open up this past Monday. There is real optimism he can play on Sunday afternoon.

The Lions have eight players listed on their initial injury report.

  • CB Jerry Jacobs (hamstring): Did not practice
  • TE Brock Wright (hip): Did not practice
  • LB Derrick Barnes (shoulder): Limited
  • FB Jason Cabinda (knee): Limited
  • DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson (knee): Limited
  • DT Levi Onwuzurike (knee): Limited
  • RT Penei Sewell (shoulder): Limited
  • C Frank Ragnow (knee/back/toe): Full

The reports on Thursday and Friday afternoon will tell us more about the status of each player.

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Stock up, Stock down in Vikings 12-10 loss vs. Bears

As the Vikings self-reflect on their bye week, there a few stocks that rose, while some have plummeted given their recent performances.

The Minnesota Vikings ended up losing a second straight game in heart-breaking fashion against the Chicago Bears 12-10.

In a game that is only suitable to watch as a comedy, Minnesota scored the lone touchdown as Josh Dobbs found tight end T.J. Hockenson for Minnesota’s go-ahead score with just under six minutes to go in the game.

With the way that the defenses were playing, that should have been enough.

It wasn’t.

The Bears made just enough plays down the stretch to send the Vikings licking their wounds as they head into a much-needed bye week.

As Minnesota takes its time to self-reflect, let’s look at whose stocks rose despite the ugly showing and whose stocks sank alongside the putrid performance.

Vikings make 4 roster moves on Tuesday

After the injury to Dean Lowry on Sunday night, the Minnesota Vikings made four roster moves on Tuesday to fortify the roster

Due to the injury to defensive end Dean Lowry on Sunday night against the Denver Broncos, the Minnesota Vikings made some roster moves on Tuesday afternoon to fortify the roster.

On Monday afternoon, they lost outside linebacker Benton Whitley to the New York Giants, who signed him to their active roster.

Let’s take a look at the four roster moves made by the Vikings on Tuesday.

Vikings make 6 roster moves, distinctions

Ahead of Sunday’s game, the Vikings made six roster moves and distinctions to sure up their roster.

Sunday afternoon will be a major matchup for the Minnesota Vikings’ playoff push as they take on the New Orleans Saints.

Both teams currently sit at 5-4 with a wild card berth a possibility as well as a division title. These two teams could be looking at a possible tiebreaker scenario for their playoff lives.

Heading into Sunday’s game, the Vikings made multiple roster moves and cleared up some distinctions. Let’s take a look at all six and what they mean for the team.

Vikings cut two defensive linemen

The Vikings moved on from two talented defensive linemen

The defensive line was one of the more competitive position groups during Minnesota Vikings training camp and the first moves were made to trim it down. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Vikings have cut defensive linemen Ross Blacklock and Sheldon Day.

Blacklock was acquired from the Houston Texans the day after cutdown day last August for a sixth-round pick with a seventh-round pick coming back to the Vikings. He struggled early on and was benched for the final eight games of 2022.

Blacklock was firmly on the roster bubble going into the final preseason game and it was evident when he played late into the game.

Day is entering his eighth season in the league after joining the Vikings practice squad in 2022. He played well this preseason and shined during practice as well.

Having Day not make the team is arguably the biggest surprise thus far of all the Vikings cuts, especially with the importance of nose tackle.

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5 Takeaways from Vikings 18-17 loss vs. Cardinals

Despite most of the starters not playing in the Vikings’ preseason finale, there were still plenty of takeaways.

The Minnesota Vikings closed their preseason with a one-point loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday.

While results do not count towards anything, the loss marks a second-consecutive winless record in preseason. However, the mission of preseason remains the same: evaluating players on the roster bubble.

It’s partly why the Vikings didn’t play many of their starters during the games. For example, Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson spent their time on the sideline without pads, while Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall saw a bulk of the team’s snaps.

Saturday’s game marked a different approach. More and more projected starters or key backups did not appear in the Vikings preseason finale, instead, undrafted free agents and likely roster cuts earned a tryout.

Here are 5 takeaways from those players, who saw most of the first-half snaps.

 

Notre Dame and Pittsburgh Steelers Stephon Tuitt through the years

Stephon Tuitt caused havoc on opposing offenses both at Notre Dame and with the Steelers. Enjoy a look back at his stellar career here.

Although [autotag]Manti Te’o[/autotag] received the press clippings during Notre Dame’s 2012 run to a 12-0 regular season and national championship game appearance, it wasn’t a certainty that he was the best player on the Fighting Irish defense that season.

As great as Te’o was there was a defensive line that was smothering that consisted of the likes of a young [autotag]Sheldon Day[/autotag], veteran [autotag]Kapron Lewis-Moore[/autotag], and a couple of stars in [autotag]Louis Nix[/autotag] and [autotag]Stephon Tuitt[/autotag].

Tuitt went on to the longest NFL career of any player from that team and on Wednesday announced that he was hanging up his cleats for good and retiring.

Here is a look back in photo form of Stephon Tuitt during his rise to stardom at Notre Dame and during his NFL career which was spent entirely with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

52 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 52

As the Minnesota Vikings near the start of their regular season, we take a look at everyone who has worn No. 52 for them.

It’s the final countdown…

Well, sort of.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 53 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.

Sheldon Day currently wears No. 52, but Chad Greenway headlines the list, wearing the number for close to a decade.

With 52 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 52 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

Vikings state of the roster: Defensive line

After losing Dalvin Tomlinson, can the Minnesota Vikings defensive line take a step forward with Harrison Phillips and Dean Lowry?

The 2023 season is inching closer and closer by the day and we here at Vikings Wire are previewing the season from every angle. Today, begins profiling the Minnesota Vikings roster on the defensive side of the football.

We are currently writing player profiles on each Viking on the roster with projections for what their 2023 season could look like. How things look projecting forward is where the real intrigue lies.

Leading up to training camp, we will be looking at each position from a more in-depth perspective. Today, we will be looking at the defensive line.

Vikings 90-man roster player profile: DT Sheldon Day

After spending time on the Vikings practice squad in 2022, can Sheldon Day make the active roster in 2023?

Welcome to the beginning of our 2023 season preview content!

Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at each player on the roster in-depth with backgrounds and how they currently project forward on the Minnesota Vikings roster.

What is the best-case scenario? What is the worst-case scenario? What should we expect from them during the preseason and beyond? We will break all of that down here.

As a staff, all of us at Vikings Wire ranked the entire 90-man roster 1-90 and will be releasing player profiles in reverse order.