29 September 2023
Though he was inadvertently left off the initial injury report, young safety Lewis Cine did not practice at all for the Vikings this week.
As a result, Cine will not be available for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C. He is dealing with a hamstring injury.
Asked for more details on Cine’s injury, head coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed it happened in the middle of a drill.
“Just opened up and kind of felt the hammy a little bit,” O’Connell said. “Everything I’ve been told, he is working through it pretty quickly.”
It’s not a major loss for the Vikings in the grand scheme of things. As of right now, Cine doesn’t see much playing on defense, buried behind safeties Harrison Smith, Cam Bynum, Josh Metellus, and Theo Jackson on the depth chart.
But Cine has a role on special teams, replacing injured receiver Jalen Nailor as a gunner last week against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The biggest issue for Cine is he can’t seem to gain any momentum after being a first-round pick by the Vikings in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Bradbury, Davenport questionable
After playing less than 10 snaps in the season opener on Sept. 10, starting center Garrett Bradbury has been trending in the right direction. He has been a limited participant in practice this week despite his back injury and is officially listed for the Panthers game as questionable.
The same goes for pass rusher Marcus Davenport as he works through an ankle injury.
“They have had good weeks of work,” O’Connell said. “We’ll see how they respond overall and see if we can have both those guys up and rolling this weekend.”
Ham approaching milestone
As soon as fullback C.J. Ham plays a snap in Sunday’s game, he will reach 100 career games played in the NFL. Not bad for an undrafted free agent out of Division II Augustana in Sioux Falls, S.D.
“Just having gotten to know C.J., it’s not as much of a surprise to me that he’s been able to accomplish that,” O’Connell said. “He’s very talented and tough. He’s a guy I would’ve loved to have as a teammate and a leader and a guy with a ‘C’ on his chest. He’s one of our most respected players in the locker room and one of our most impactful players in this building on and off the field.”
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