Minnesota Vikings News and Links: Jordan Addison Dealing with “Pretty Significant Soreness” in Right Ankle

It’s uncertain how much time, if any, he’ll miss

The sound you hear coming out of Eagan is a measured, but relieved sigh as head coach Kevin O’Connell noted Monday that Jordan Addison has “pretty significant soreness” in his ankle, but it sounds as though it’s structurally sound.

The Vikings will exercise caution with Addison, but it’s worth noting that while he had an injured ankle in training camp — this time, it’s the right ankle. It was ol’ lefty this summer.

Over at ESPN.com, Bill Barnwell has a massive breakdown of the week that was — or has been, anyway — and gives quite a bit of love to Sam Darnold, who was brilliant on Sunday.

NFL Week 1 surprise wins, losses, players: Lessons from Sunday

Barnwell makes a note of the fact that Darnold returned to his old stomping grounds — figuratively more so than literally, as he played for the Jets — and did the stomping, breaking down an array of big-time throws the former third-overall pick made in a convincing win over the Giants.

Minnesota Vikings News and Links

At Purple Insider, Matthew Coller — who was in New Jersey to cover the game — has a full breakdown of what the Vikings did to create a strong support system around Darnold to find the best version of himself.

In Darnold’s winning debut, Vikings find a blueprint for supporting him

I like unconventional analysis like this, where it’s easy to look at what an individual player does rather than what happens around them to make them do what they did. Highly recommended reading here.

Over at Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio and Chris Simms dug into their bag of tricks to break down not only the quarterback the Vikings stymied on Sunday, but the one that got away as Kirk Cousins’ debut with the Falcons led to a slightly better day than Daniel Jones’ had, but not markedly so.

NFL Week 1 worry meter: NYG’s Jones, ATL’s Cousins

Simms seems to downplay Jones’ issues, saying one interception was “only on a screen pass” (Andrew Van Ginkel’s) while Harrison Smith’s was late and the game was already over. And while I suppose that’s technically true with the Smith interception being the fifth play of the fourth quarter when the score was already as it finished (28-6), I still think the timing is a bit less relevant than the fact that Smith baited him into throwing a pretty ugly interception at that part of the field.

And beyond that, if he somehow threw a touchdown there, the Giants would have been within two scores with more than 13 minutes left. I’m not a fan of this analysis.

Cousins’ Falcons literally got kicked to death — but he was bad in his debut, and perhaps not nearly healthy enough to be out there. His already questionable mobility is in doubt after his Achilles injury, and being a sitting duck isn’t good for anyone back there. Both Simms and Florio teased the idea of looking at Michael Penix Jr., but didn’t really come out and say it.

The video also rolls into a Simms love-fest for Darnold, so that’s fun.

Over on his Substack newsletter, Judd Zulgad drops some thoughts on Minnesota’s impressive win on Sunday.

Zulgad’s 4 thoughts on Vikings’ victory over Giants

Zulgad notes the run/pass balance struck on Monday, as well as one thing I hadn’t thought about that helped this team be mentally tough on Sunday — a tough training camp. The Vikings fumbled on their first offensive drive — something that happened all too often last season, especially early — and still managed to put the screws to a severely outclassed Giants team.

Finally, over at Zone Coverage, site founder Tom Schreier posits that the team did enough in free agency to keep this team afloat as it continues down the path of a retool as opposed to a total rebuild.

The Vikings Did Enough In Free Agency To Avoid A Lost Season

Schreier’s point is well taken. The Vikings addressed needs at almost every level of the team — quarterback with Darnold, running back with Aaron Jones, up front with Jonathan Greenard, in the middle of the defense with Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman and even in the defensive backfield with Stephon Gilmore.

None of the signings were considered flashy at the time, but each will play or have played a pretty significant role on how this team navigates a transition year.

In the news

• Former Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. worked out for the Patriots on Monday, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 of Houston. Smith was in camp with the Chiefs but was cut and not signed by anyone to their practice squad or otherwise.
• Darius Slayton is in the concussion protocol following Sunday’s game against the Vikings, reports Patricia Traina of New York Giants on S.I.
• Despite a brutal Week 1 performance, Brian Daboll has already said Daniel Jones is starting next week against Washington. However, it can’t be great that it’s already a discussion, right?
• Here’s how some former Vikings fared in Week 1 (please comment any I miss so I can add them): Eric Wilson had four total tackles and two tackles for loss in Green Bay’s loss to the Eagles; Kirk Cousins completed 16-of-26 passes for 155 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in Atlanta’s loss to Pittsburgh, while Mike Hughes had seven total tackles and three tackles for loss; MyCole Pruitt caught one pass for nine yards for the Steelers while Cordarrelle Patterson rushed four times for 13 yards; Khyiris Tonga had a tackle for the Cardinals in their loss to the Bills; KJ Osborn caught 3 of 6 targets for 21 yards in his Patriots debut; Stefon Diggs caught six passes for 33 yards and two touchdowns and added a rush for six yards in Houston’s win over Indianapolis, while Danielle Hunter had a total tackle and a pass defensed and Kris Boyd added a tackle as well; Mike Boone rushed four times for seven yards, while Adam Thielen caught 3 of 4 targets for 49 receiving yards and added a tackle in Carolina’s loss to the Saints; Alexander Mattison rushed five times for 19 yards but added four receptions for 43 yards with a touchdown in the Raiders’ loss to the Chargers; Troy Dye had a solo tackle for the Chargers; Eric Kendricks had nine total tackles, two sacks, a tackle for loss, a pass defensed and two quarterback hits in Dallas’ win over Cleveland; Za’Darius Smith had three total tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit for the Browns; Dalvin Cook was inactive for the Cowboys.
• In our rookie quarterback watch-along: they were all mostly bad. Jayden Daniels was at the top of the class, going 17-for-24 with 184 passing yards, no touchdowns or interceptions and a 93.1 passer rating. Bo Nix completed 26 of 42 passes for 138 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions (47.5 rating). Caleb Williams was the only one whose team won, and it wasn’t because of him; he completed 14 of 29 passes for 93 yards with a passer rating of 55.7. Combined, this trio threw for 415 yards, zero touchdowns, two interceptions and had a collective passer rating of just 61.5.

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