The Minnesota Vikings made a flurry of moves to bolster their injury-depleted secondary ahead of Thursday night’s game at the Arizona Cardinals.
Strong safety Andrew Sendejo missed Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks with a sore knee, while free safety Harrison Smith left during the second defensive series with a hamstring injury. With status of both players for Thursday’s game uncertain, the Vikings signed four-year veteran street free agent Shaun Prater and signed rookie Anthony Harris off their practice squad.
Prater originally signed with the Vikings as a rookie free agent out of Iowa and played in 18 games for the team from 2013-14, including three starts. He was released during the final roster cuts this year and played in one game for the Indianapolis Colts. Harris went undrafted out of Virginia and spent the first 13 weeks of the season on the Vikings’ practice squad.
They will provide depth with Antone Exum Jr. placed on injured reserve with rib and shoulder injuries that were expected to sideline him 2-3 weeks. Strong safety Robert Blanton (knee) also sat out Monday’s workout, with coach Mike Zimmer uncertain of the status of any of his three top safeties for Thursday’s game.
Fourth-year defensive end Justin Trattou was released and rookie linebacker Terrance Plummer was signed to the practice squad.
