I began compiling this list of initial cuts the other day, but rather more disturbing news hit the wires a short while back: Teddy Bridgewater was injured during the afternoon practice:
The Minnesota Vikings canceled their practice Tuesday after quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered an apparently serious injury in a non-contact drill.
The Vikings asked reporters to leave the field area and to gather in the media room, where coach Mike Zimmer is expected to address Bridgewater’s injury.
Players removed their helmets and gathered around Bridgewater as the third-year quarterback was examined by medical personnel. An ambulance later drove onto the field.
If they called an ambulance, they’re clearly taking no chances with Bridgewater’s injury. The team obviously won’t have any definite information until the initial tests are performed — and head coach Mike Zimmer has been extremely cautious about sharing injury information with the media this year, so we may not hear anything concrete for a while. Zimmer will hold a press conference at 4 Central time to provide an update on Bridgewater’s condition.
Roster cuts so far…
All NFL teams have to reduce their rosters to 75 players under contract. As I mentioned in an update to the game report from Sunday’s contest with the Chargers, the Vikings are looking for a trade partner for centre John Sullivan. No trade offers materialized, so unfortunately Sullivan has been cut.
- RT Austin Shepherd 74 – Shepherd was a bit of a surprise cut this early, but he’d clearly been pushed down the depth chart by off-season free agent signings and didn’t do enough in training camp to stick around for another season. He should be eligible for the practice squad, but going in the first round of cuts may mean the team is no longer interested in developing his skills.
- RG Sean Hickey 66 (FA) – This wasn’t a surprise, as I hadn’t seen his name mentioned in training camp round-ups or game reports, so he didn’t catch the eyes of the coaches during the month he was on the team.
- QB Brad Sorensen (FA) – Sorenson was a late addition to the roster, only being signed to the team nine days ago. His cut was one of the easiest to predict.
- WR Marken Michel 9 (UDFA) – Another player who didn’t register in the coverage of camp or the first three preseason games, which is usually a strong indicator that they won’t find a roster spot. Arif Hasan’s take:
- LDE Theiren Cockran 67 (UDFA) – Cockran’s name came up a few times during the OTA sessions, but faded from view once training camp got underway.
- DT Claudell Louis 74 (UDFA) – Louis was a long-shot, having only been signed to the roster in late July. Arif Hasan thought Louis had a good camp performance:
- LB Terrance Plummer – Plummer has been through this before, as he was signed to the roster early in the off-season, released in April and then re-signed early in August.
- CB Melvin White 31 (FA) – White’s release was announced on the August 25. The Vikings have a number of potentially very good young corners (Rhodes, Waynes, and Alexander), so White had too steep a hill to climb to make the roster.
- TE Brian Leonhardt 87 (FA) – Another player who hoped to join a very good tight ends group, but was unable to show more potential than last year’s holdovers or 2016 draft pick David Morgan. Arif Hasan:
- WR Terrell Sinkfield 16 (FA) – Sinkfield was also competing at a crowded position and was unable to show enough to encourage the coaches to give him one more game where he might be able to show enough to stay on the roster.
- C John Sullivan 65 – It’s sad to see Sullivan released after a very good career with the Vikings. He was drafted in 2008 and took over the starting centre position in 2009. After missing all of last year on injured reserve, he was unable to recapture the job from Joe Berger and the team was unable to find a trade partner before the cut-down deadline. Rick Spielman wrote of Sullivan:
- S Antone Exum Jr. 32 – Exum has all the physical gifts but never quite seemed to get the mental side of Mike Zimmer’s defence.
- DT Scott Chrichton 95 – Much was expected of Chrichton, but he was never able to get on the field enough to show what he was capable of doing.
- WR Troy Stoudermire 1 (FA) – As with Sinkfield, he was buried too far down the wide receiver list to get enough playing time.
- G Mike Harris has been moved to the reserve/non-football injury list.
Sounds like Austin Shepherd has been cut from the #Vikings. Disappointing, thought he was better than a few other OL on the team.
— Arif Hasan (@ArifHasanNFL) August 29, 2016
#Vikings cuts starting to happen. OL Sean Hickey is one of them, which is probably no surprise.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) August 29, 2016
Michel looked good in spurts at camp, but his cut was easy to predict just from his playing time. He took two snaps on offense all preseason, behind the rarely seen Moritz Böhringer and Isaac Fruechte. His eight special teams snaps didn’t make up for the difference.
An interesting athletic talent that looked good with the ball in his hands at Massachusetts, Michel couldn’t generate that same quickness as a route-runner and he doesn’t have the size or speed to hang his hat on another trump card.
Add Theiren Cockran to #Vikings cuts list, I hear. Former #Gophers DE got just three snaps in the three games.
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) August 29, 2016
After recently having earned his U.S. citizenship, it would have been a nice followup for Claudell Louis to make an NFL roster. Unfortunately, without seeing a single snap in three preseason games despite being healthy, Louis couldn’t make his case in live play. It’s a shame, because I thought Louis actually had a good camp despite being a late camp signing who found himself on the roster after Heinicke found his foot in a door.
Still, he was behind several rounds of defensive tackles — not just the starting pair of Linval Joseph and Sharrif Floyd, but Tom Johnson/Shamar Stephen, Kenrick Ellis/Toby Johnson and nickel rotations that included Scott Crichton and Zach Moore.
Terrance Plummer got cut, but not before getting an epic hit for his highlight reel yesterday. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/E64GqDlKq3
— Eric Thompson (@eric_j_thompson) August 29, 2016
The gap between the top three tight ends in camp — Kyle Rudolph, MyCole Pruitt and David Morgan — and the bottom two — Kyle Carter and Brian Leonhardt — is enormous. Add to that the fact that Rhett Ellison is expected to contribute as early as week one (once taken off the PUP list in the offseason, one cannot be PUP’d for the regular season for the same injury), and it’s difficult to see how Carter or Leonhardt could have contributed.
“Our entire organization appreciates everything that John Sullivan has done for this franchise. Sullivan led our team, not only with how he played the game, but also with how he handled himself in our community. We wish John Sullivan and his family nothing but the best as they move forward.”
