Ahead of Sunday’s game at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Miami Dolphins, the Minnesota Vikings have just one practice squad elevation for this week, but with the way things have gone in the first three weeks, it could be a very important one.
The Vikings have elevated punter Johnny Hekker from the practice squad, meaning that he will handle punting and holding duties for the second week in a row as Brett Thorson continues to deal with a hamstring injury. It’s important to note that this is Hekker’s
first elevation from the practice squad this year. Ahead of last week’s game against Tampa Bay, Hekker was signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, not elevated, so he still has two more elevations remaining after this one and will not have to be released after the game as he was last week.
In last week’s game, Hekker was called upon eight times and performed well, averaging 46.5 yards with a long of 63 and placing two punts inside the 20-yard line. He also, as far as I could tell, did a solid job of holding on all three of Will Reichard’s field goal attempts and both extra points. If he hadn’t. . .well, we’d obviously know.
There hasn’t been a whole lot of word on just how bad Thorson’s injury is. The team hasn’t gone as far as putting him on IR, but he hasn’t practiced for two weeks, either. I’m not sure if the team is waiting until after the bye week to get him back out there again or what’s happening, but at least they have a solid veteran option like Hekker around for instances like this one.
That should be the last roster move the Vikings make before Sunday’s game. If they do make any other moves, we’ll bring them to you as soon as we’re able.
