Vikings TE Irv Smith Jr. On Track to Play Week 1, Kevin O'Connell Says

Smith is still recovering from thumb surgery, but the Vikings are happy with how he's progressing.

Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. had surgery to repair a thumb injury a little over two weeks ago. With a little over three weeks until the regular season opener (September 11th vs. the Packers), the team is confident that he's on track to be ready to go.

"Everything with Irv has been really positive," head coach Kevin O'Connell said on Thursday. "You guys will see him during these practices — he’s out there with Coach (Brian) Angelichio — he’s done a ton of work on the side. He’s now allowed to start sweating and making sure he’s keeping his conditioning where we need it."

"We’ll pick some spots over the next couple weeks to find some time to get Irv really started to get acclimated back into the offensive huddle. Although he may not be able to catch for a few more days, we can actually have him out there hearing play calls, getting back in there, because we want him to pick up where he left off."

That's encouraging news about Smith's recovery. The sooner the Vikings can get him back in action, the better, because they'll want him to have a bit of a ramp-up period if he's going to be a significant part of the game plan against Green Bay.

Without Smith, the Vikings have leaned on Johnny Mundt, Zach Davidson, and Ben Ellefson at tight end throughout training camp.

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