EAGAN, Minn. — Stefon Diggs is recovering this week from an injury he sustained to his ribs against the New Orleans Saints.
The Vikings wide receiver did not participate in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, although he was able to toss the football to his position group during individual drills earlier today.
Diggs believes he was injured on a 19-yard screen pass that he caught in the second quarter of Minnesota’s 30-20 loss last Sunday. The receiver said he does not think he took a hit to the ribs on the play in question but rather sustained a bruise upon hitting the ground.
“I think so. I’m not 100 percent sure, but that’s probably when it happened,” Diggs said. “I think I just hit the ground a little bit too hard that one time.”
Diggs was seen chatting with Vikings trainers on the sideline after the reception, which occurred on the first play in the second quarter, but went back in the game one play later. The fifth-year receiver caught 10 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown against New Orleans and was able to play 64 of a total 73 offensive snaps. Notably, Diggs was not on the field for the Vikings’ failed conversion on fourth-and-1 from their own 45-yard line in the third quarter.
Friday’s injury report will provide more clarity as to whether Diggs will have a shot at facing the Lions on Sunday. The likelihood of that increases if he’s able to practice in some capacity tomorrow.
“Yeah,” Diggs said when he asked if he anticipates playing in Week 9. “Always, as I should.”
The Vikings may also see the return of running back Dalvin Cook against Detroit. Cook has been battling through a hamstring injury he sustained in overtime at Green Bay in Week 2, which has limited him to 36 carries for 98 yards in 10 quarters of play.
Sources indicated to ESPN last week the belief that Cook would remain sidelined through the bye week after missing the Saints game, but his return to practice this week in limited capacity may indicate the second-year back is further along with his rehabilitation.
Cook did not practice during the week leading into the game against New Orleans. Eliminating football activity, he says, was beneficial to his recovery process.
“Very, very important,” Cook said. “I think with these things, if you’re kind of stepping on it and keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to keep lingering it on. You kind of need to shut the body down. That’s why I’m so confident in our medical staff because they’ve got the right plan set up for me. We’ve been going by what they (have) for me daily and my body’s been reacting to it good. It was very important.”
Cook said he’s in a “comfortable spot” after practicing all week and is likely to be listed as questionable if he practices again on Friday. The running back said he doesn’t know if there are any lingering effects from his hamstring injury given he hasn’t taken snaps in a game since the Vikings played the Rams in Week 4. He’ll know how he truly feels and what percentage he can assign to his hamstring’s being fully healed when he gets in a game.
“That’s the big key,” Cook said. “You can practice. You can run around. You can run straight. You can do all that. But it’s about going out there and the person chasing you and you turning your body and you twisting your body and having the twitch to do it, that’s when hamstrings occur. That’s how it occurred during the Green Bay game. My body got torqued around, and that’s what happened.”
Latavius Murray has shouldered the load in Cook’s absence and rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown against the Saints’ No. 1 run defense last week. The last time the Vikings played the Lions, Murray ran 20 times for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Source : ESPN
