Cam Dantzler designated to return from injured reserve
Just in time for the stretch run, the Minnesota Vikings are getting one of their top defensive players back. On Thursday, the Vikings designated cornerback Cam Dantzler for return from injured reserve.
Dantzler missed four games with an ankle injury but has been cleared for takeoff just in time for Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions, assuming things go well in practice this week and he's activated for game.
The bad news is that rookie cornerback Akayleb Evans has been placed on injured reserve with his second concussion this season. That means he'll miss at least the next four games.
How big is Dantzler to the defense? We're about to find out.
Minnesota's defense allowed an average of 238 passing yards to starting quarterbacks in the seven full games Dantzler played before he suffered the ankle injury against the Washington Commanders in Week 9.
- Aaron Rodgers – 195 yards
- Jalen Hurts – 333 yards
- Jared Goff – 277 yards
- Andy Dalton – 236 yards
- Justin Fields – 208 yards
- Teddy Bridgewater – 329 yards
- Kyler Murray – 326 yards
In the four games without Dantzler the Vikings were chewed up and spit out by Josh Allen (330 yards), Dak Prescott (276 yards), Mac Jones (382 yards) and Mike White (369 yards). Prescott did his damage despite throwing just three passes over the final 23 minutes of the game.
Getting lit up for 300+ yards by the high-powered passing attacks of the Dolphins, Bills and Cowboys is one thing, but being carved up by the Patriots and Jets, whose passing offenses rank in the bottom half of the NFL, isn't the mark of a defense capable of stopping the best of the best in the playoffs.
Even though Dantzler is expected back this week, the Vikings have a 21-day window to either activate him or keep him on injured reserve for the rest of the season. The same goes for rookie running back Ty Chandler, who has been designated to return to the practice squad.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.