Despite their 4-0 record, the Minnesota Vikings have had their share of issues on offense in the early phases of this 2026 NFL season, and they’ve gotten a couple of doses of bad news on this Monday morning that could, somehow, make things a little bit worse. Both members of the left side of the Vikings’ offensive line are now dealing with injuries, and one could be out for an extended length of time.
We’ll start with left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who had a couple of different issues in Sunday’s
victory over the Miami Dolphins. Darrisaw left early in Sunday’s game with a neck issue and was listed as questionable to return, but did come back into the game. Later on, he left the game again and was replaced by Ryan Van Demark, who finished things out in Darrisaw’s spot. In his press conference today, Kevin O’Connell told reporters that Darrisaw is now in the league’s concussion protocol, putting his status for Sunday’s game in New Orleans in doubt. That’s, obviously, something that we’ll be monitoring throughout the course of this week.
Unfortunately, the news is much worse for his tag team partner, guard Donovan Jackson. Jackson has a torn meniscus that will require surgery and, in all likelihood, end his sophomore season after just four games. Jackson went out in the first quarter of Sunday’s game and went to the locker room, where he was ruled out for the afternoon relatively quickly. He was replaced by Joe Huber at the left guard spot. Jackson, the Vikings’ first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, had really come on strong in the early portion of this season, and his absence is definitely one that is going to be felt for a Vikings’ offense that is already having problems getting points on the board.
The week is already not off to a great start on the injury front for a Vikings team that is already wondering about Justin Jefferson’s status as they head into their Week 5 matchup in New Orleans. We’ll have more news on Christian Darrisaw’s status as the injury reports come out through the week, and here’s hoping that Donovan Jackson’s upcoming surgery is a successful one and he comes back fully ready to go for 2027.
