Harrison Smith, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Vikings are set to face off against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. It will be the highly anticipated debut of J.J. McCarthy.
Although Kevin O’Connell is ready to see his new quarterback work, he’ll be without one of his veteran leaders. Injury reports have trended in a direction to suggest Harrison Smith wouldn’t play. That is now official.
Harrison Smith out for MN Vikings
For weeks Harrison Smith has been on the sidelines for the Minnesota Vikings. There has been no actual designation given to him other than “illness.” He did return to practice, but time ran out on his availability for Week 1.
It’s unfortunate that Smith isn’t going to be on the field. It’s probably worse that he won’t even be with the team. Of course it makes sense for him to remain home and continue to recovery from whatever malady is ailing him.
The Vikings drafted Smith 29th overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. He has played 192 games (191 starts) for Minnesota, and started 16 tilts last season.
Brian Flores is banking on his front seven getting to the cornerback while trusting an otherwise light cornerback group. The secondary was already going to break in Theo Jackson on the back-end, and now will need to operate without Smith as well.
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The initial depth chart showed Tavierre Thomas in a starting role. He’s going to have a ton of responsibilities loaded onto his plate. Recently extended Josh Metellus will now be the leader for that portion of the Vikings secondary. Jay Ward should also be expected to step up. He has played just 68 defensive snaps in his first two seasons.
Hopefully the week off will allow Smith enough time to get back to game-readiness. O’Connell has already noted that his veteran star is locked in, but conditioning is another piece of the puzzle. The Vikings kick off their home schedule next Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
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