Last month, the Minnesota Vikings made the decision to bench right guard Ed Ingram and replace his spot in the starting lineup with Dalton Risner before the team’s Week 11 game against the Tennessee Titans.
It was a decision the Vikings clearly felt they needed to make, and so far, it seems like it was the right call. After Ingram allowed 24 pressures and five sacks in nine starts at right guard this season, Risner hasn’t given up a sack, and he’s allowed a total of seven pressures in the last three weeks, according to data from PFF.
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Unfortunately, there now seems to be a chance that Minnesota might have to turn back to Ingram for the team’s upcoming Week 14 game against the Atlanta Falcons.
On Thursday, the Vikings released their second injury report of the week, and Risner was listed as a limited participant in practice because of a back injury. The veteran offensive lineman was not on Minnesota’s first injury report for Week 14 that the team shared on Wednesday, so this seems like something to keep an eye on.
A back injury is what prevented Risner from being active for a Vikings game this season until Week 9, so the fact that it might be an issue for him once again is a potential problem.
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If Risner is unable to play this weekend and Minnesota is forced to start Ingram at right guard again, it will be interesting to see how the switch would affect the performance of Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold.
After a bit of a slump in the middle of the season, Darnold has played well in his last three games, throwing for 811 yards (270.3 average), six touchdowns, and no interceptions, which has resulted in a 111.7 passer rating.
Has Risner’s presence at right guard made an impact on the quarterback’s recent performance? At the very least, it’s probably been nice for Darnold not to have his right guard doing an impression of a turnstile for the last three weeks.
Hopefully, Risner is still able to play on Sunday against Atlanta, and Minnesota doesn’t have to worry about inserting Ingram back in the starting lineup.