Andrew Van Ginkel, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
The most consistent narrative for the Minnesota Vikings this season has been injury. They lost their starting quarterback to a high-ankle sprain, and they are without multiple players on the offensive line. To say things haven’t gone as planned for head coach Kevin O’Connell would be putting it lightly.
Brian Flores was supposed to have one of the best front seven lineups in football. That would be true if they were healthy and could deploy their full complement of talent.
That isn’t and hasn’t been the case. Things may get worse if the neck injury Andrew Van Ginkel is dealing with persists as well.
Andrew Van Ginkel a question mark for MN Vikings
Through the first four weeks of the season, veteran edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel has played just two games. He has two sacks and seven tackles, but his neck injury has held him out of multiple contests. Local insider Darren “Doogie” Wolfson is now sounding a bit of an alarm as well.
So… here's @DWolfsonKSTP sounding the alarm on Andrew Van Ginkel's neck injury possibly being long-term, even comparing it to "the Danielle Hunter situation". 😬
"Andrew Van Ginkel, neck injury…[The Vikings] haven't put him on IR so they are holding out some hope and I… pic.twitter.com/inS4urnfAm
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) October 2, 2025
“The Andrew Van Ginkel neck injury…they haven’t put him on IR, so they’re holding out some hope. I haven’t heard that it’s a season-ending type of neck injury, but certainly concern about Andrew Van Ginkel, who at this point all signs point to him not playing on Sunday…Van Ginkel neck yeah, Judd I mean going back to training camp, you we’re spot on weeks ago when you first pushed the panic button before everybody. Danielle Hunter all over again right?”
Darren Wolfson – Skor North
In 2020 the Minnesota Vikings were without Danielle Hunter all season after he underwent surgery on his neck. The franchise tried to downplay the severity of the injury but ultimately never saw him in action.
Van Ginkel didn’t participate for a significant portion of training camp due to this neck injury, and it would be a significant blow if he misses an extended period of time. Two games already represents half of the season thus far, but it’s what happens out of the bye that could be most telling.
The Vikings are certainly hoping an additional week of downtime will serve Van Ginkel well and allow him to return to the field. The talented edge rusher just signed a contract extension with the team, and injury wiping out a serious portion of that availability would be a crushing blow.
Brian Flores has relied on Dallas Turner to pick up the slack with Van Ginkel out. Depth edge rusher Tyler Batty has also recently had his practice window opened after starting the season on injured reserve.
Minnesota complete their two-week international swing on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns in London. They are set to face rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel for his NFL debut.
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