Linebacker **Blake Cashman** was among four Vikings players who returned to practice on Monday, the first full-team session coming out of the bye week.
No official injury report is required until Wednesday, but coach **Kevin O’Connell** was happy to relay the positive developments Monday after an onslaught of injuries has tested their physical depth and mental resolve early in the season.
Cashman’s three-week practice window officially started Monday when he returned to the field for the first time since [suffering a hamstring strain Sept. 8](https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-vikings-injured-reserve-blake-cashman-ty-chandler/601472225) while chasing down Bears quarterback **Caleb Williams** in the season-opening victory at Chicago.
“We have just seen since we got Blake, when he’s out there and we’re playing the type of defense we’re accustomed to seeing, Blake’s got a lot to do with it,” O’Connell said. “Very, very excited to get him back.”
Cashman, last year’s leading tackler, said that he feels great, but that “it hurts your soul a little bit” to miss four games in a row. He has battled through injuries for much of his NFL career; in seven NFL seasons, he has yet to play in every game in a season.
“To be back on the grass with your brothers,” Cashman said, “you start to feel like yourself again.”
Cashman last dealt with hamstring issues during the 2020 and ’21 seasons, when he appeared in a combined seven games for the Jets.