MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw will have season-ending surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left knee, a devastating development for a team that was undefeated a week ago but has since endured a series of setbacks. Coach Kevin O'Connell confirmed Friday that Darrisaw tore his ACL and MCL during Thursday night's loss at the Los Angeles Rams. Darrisaw was placed on injured reserve, opening a spot on the active roster for tight end T.
J. Hockenson, who spent the first eight weeks on the physically unable to perform list recovering from ACL and MCL tears he suffered in the third-to-last game of last season. In the closing seconds of the first half of Minnesota's 30-20 loss , Darrisaw was blocking outside linebacker Jared Verse on a running play when safety Jaylen McCollough lost his balance on a tackle attempt and inadvertently rolled into the back of Darrisaw's leg.
“He’d really developed into one of our core leaders, clearly one of our offensive pillars that we have leaned on a lot,” O'Connell said. “It’s going to be a significant loss, but we've all got to do a little more, and it starts with me.” Darrisaw limped off with assistance from the medical staff and left SoFi Stadim on crutches.
He was replaced for the rest of the game by veteran David Quessenberry, but the Vikings might feel the need to acquire another tackle with rookie Walter Rouse the only other one on the active roster behind stalwart right tackle Brian O'Neil.
