Vikings' Brian O'Neill also suffered partially torn Achilles
Brian O'Neill's injury was worse than initially feared. The star Vikings right tackle left Sunday's game against the Packers what the Vikings initially described as a calf muscle injury. But further tests have revealed a partially torn Achilles.
"From medical tests and things that continue to be evaluated with Brian, it was determined in addition to the calf injury it led to a partially torn Achilles. It is something that he will require surgery to fix and then is expected to make a fully recovery," head coach Kevin O'Connell said Wednesday.
"It was not a full tear. It was not a full Achilles injury but it was an injury that did require it being repaired," O'Connell continued. "Timelines, I really don't have at this point but my understanding is he should be able to make a fully recovery and be ready and hopefully available to start next season."
Replacing O'Neill will likely be up to Oli Udoh or Blake Brandel, maybe both.
"I think it's going to be a hard thing to replace, especially with that consistency," said O'Connell, who made it fairly clear that Udoh will be starting Sunday at Chicago. When the playoffs come around Jan. 14-16, Brandel is expected back.
"Yes, there is a very good chance we'll get Blake back. He's done an excellent job in his recovery," said O'Connell. "I know Blake is doing everything he can to get back with his guys up front there as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, O'Connell expressed optimism about getting center Garrett Bradbury back from a back injury in time for the playoffs.
"He is progressing and the hope is at some point soon we'll be able to get him back," the head coach said. "It's to be determined what that looks like for this week."
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.