EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Football is a contact sport, but Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer seems to get his worst news when there’s no contact at all.
A week before last season, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater went down with a horrific left knee injury during a routine drill in practice. A little over a year later, quarterback Sam Bradford posted a career-high 143.0 passer rating in a season-opening win only to wake up the next morning with a left knee so swollen that he’s missed the next three games and is still day-to-day heading into next Monday night’s game at Chicago.
And then the latest gut punch to a star player’s left knee came during the third quarter of Sunday’s 14-7 loss to Detroit at U.S. Bank Stadium. Standout rookie running back Dalvin Cook, the young phenom who made everyone forget Adrian Peterson immediately, has torn his anterior cruciate ligament and is out for the season,Zimmer confirmed to reporters on Monday.
“I saw him this morning for a minute,” Zimmer said Monday. “But he’s a great kid. I’m extremely impressed with what he’s done to this point. It’s obviously a terrible thing for him and for us, but we’ll move forward and go from there. But he’s a great worker and Ihave no doubt that he’ll come back from this.”
Zimmer said surgery has not been scheduled yet. The swelling has to go down first. Zimmer also said “like all ACL injuries,” damage to the meniscus and cartilage could be found once the swelling goes down.
Zimmer said he talked with Cook a little bit about the rehab that’s ahead of him.
“I talked to him about doctors we have here and the medical staff, and how they were able to rehab the last great runner here,” said Zimmer, referring to how Adrian Peterson came back from a torn ACL in nine months en route to rushing for 2,097 yards and winning MVP in 2012.
“I expect (Cook) to come back and be the same that he was.”
Cook’s explosiveness and versatility were key elements of a Vikings offense that had elevated to No. 2 in the league for the first time since the ninth week of the 2004 season.
Minnesota has nobody on the roster to adequately replace Cook, who led the team in rushing with 354 yards while catching 11 passes for 90 yards. He was proving to be a good pass protector and his only fumble came on the play in which his ACL was torn.
The Vikings (2-2) dropped a game behind Detroit and Green Bay in the NFC North. And now they’ll turn to Latavius Murray, the forgotten man who arrived this offseason via free agency, but was quickly overshadowed by Cook’s dynamic talent.
“It’s not about whether or not I’m ready or what rhythm I have,” said Murray, who missed most of training camp as he recovered from ankle surgery. “I need to be ready when my number is called.”
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