PLAYER NOTES
–LB Anthony Barr still wasn’t ready to practice after the team’s bye week. Barr was held out of Wednesday’s practice with the hamstring injury that has kept him out of the past two games.
–S Andrew Sendejo didn’t practice on Wednesday with his lingering groin injury. Sendejo has missed four games because of the injury. He had returned to practice two weeks ago on a limited basis and then practiced in full the Friday before being held out of the game against Detroit before the bye.
–TE David Morgan didn’t practice on Wednesday after he injured his knee in the previous game against Detroit.
–WR Adam Thielen was added to the injury report this week with low back and calf injuries. Thielen was limited in Wednesday’s practice.
–CB Xavier Rhodes was limited on Wednesday as he deals with a foot injury. Rhodes has played through the injury but was noticeably bothered during the win against Detroit before the bye week.
–RG Mike Remmers was listed on Wednesday’s injury report with a low back injury. He was limited in practice.
–LG Tom Compton was limited in Wednesday’s practice with a knee injury. Compton has missed the past two games with Danny Isidora starting in his place.
–WR Stefon Diggs returned to practice on a full-time basis this week after recovering from a rib injury. Diggs missed the win against Detroit before the bye week.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: RB Dalvin Cook. A matchup featuring two of the top-five defenses in the NFL could be turned around with a strong game controlling the ball by Minnesota. Cook showed just what the Vikings were missing when he missed five games with a hamstring injury by taking a handoff for 70 yards against Detroit. Chicago owns the league’s second-best run defense this year. If Cook can add some big plays and ball control, Minnesota can keep the Bears’ speedy offense off the field and keep Khalil Mack and the pass rushers off quarterback Kirk Cousins.
GAME PLAN: Flexed to the Sunday night game, this should be an entertaining affair that features some explosive offensive players. But it also has two of the top defenses in the league. Expect the defenses to maintain control in this one. Minnesota will be keen on holding the Bears’ running game in check; slowing the versatile Tarik Cohen, not letting Jordan Howard get going in the middle of the field and keeping quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in the pocket. The Vikings’ mantra remains stopping the run first.
Minnesota won’t want to expose quarterback Kirk Cousins and the offensive line to too much pressure from Khalil Mack and Chicago’s pass rushers. If Cousins has to drop back and throw all game, that plays into the Bears’ hands. So, the Vikings will look to use running backs Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray to run the ball. Cousins, as he’s done much of the season, can also use the quick, short passing game to slow the pass rush. Receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen have been potent running after the catch.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Vikings Ts vs. Bears LB Khalil Mack. Mack lines up all over the field, so this responsibility won’t fall solely to Minnesota LT Riley Reiff. Rookie Brian O’Neill, who kept his starting spot on the right side after Reiff returned from injury, will also see his share of Mack, who has seven sacks this season. Reiff and O’Neill will have their hands full, and the Vikings would be smart to also bring help with a tight end or back to slow Mack.
–Vikings S Harrison Smith vs. Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky. This isn’t your typical one-on-one matchup, but Smith will likely be trying to diagnose where Trubisky is going all game long. Smith will need to come up when Trubisky takes off running and Smith will try to solve Chicago’s multiple looks on offense to slow the passing game.
