The Minnesota Vikings lost their first-round pick in week four against the New Orleans Saints in London to a compound fracture in his lower leg. That raised some questions about his recovery time and if he were going to be ready for the start of the 2023 season.
In an interview with the Pioneer Press, Cine answered that with conviction.
“Next season, for sure. That’s for sure. … Nothing is going to keep me from playing next season, so I’ll do what I got to do in rehab and come back.”
Doctors have all been optimistic with Cine and believe he will play. He was also was questioning the surface in London but couldn’t say for sure if it was at fault.
“I think the odds of something happening on natural grass probably would have been lower,” Cine said. “There are studies that probably say there’s more injuries than on a regular field. … But it is what it is at the end of the day.
You would think (with) an international game, they would cross their t’s, dot their i’s with the field, but it didn’t happen that way. There were bumps (on the field). When you were running on it, it felt like you were running on concrete, so it’s a bunch of crazy stuff. … I can’t say that’s definitely why I got hurt, but I know the field was not ideal at all.”
The field surface that they played on in London is called a slit-film surface. Seven teams currently play on them and that includes the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Head of the NFLPA J.C. Tretter is currently pushing for the NFL to only play on grass fields.
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