Advertisement

Vikings lose center Austin Schlottmann for season; tackle Brian O’Neill also hurt

Chris Tomasson, Pioneer Press
·5 min read
9

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Vikings offensive lineman Chris Reed hadn’t played a single snap from scrimmage all season. Then he was called into duty four minutes into Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field.

Vikings center Austin Schlottmann had suffered a broken left fibula that will end his season. So Reed rushed onto the field, and he played the rest of the way in a 41-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

“I did OK,’’’ Reed said. “Some rough starts, but we got it fixed. … The next-man-up mentality is what we preach.”

Schlottmann had started his fourth straight game in place of center Garrett Bradbury, out with a back injury. And he wasn’t only starting Minnesota offensive lineman lost Sunday in the first quarter.

Right tackle Brian O’Neill, who made the Pro Bowl in 2021, departed for good after after suffering a calf muscle injury. He was hurt on a play in which Darnell Savage returned an interception 75 yards for a touchdown with 5:33 left in the quarter to give the Packers a 14-3 lead.

O’Neill will have an MRI on Monday. He was replaced against the Packers by Oli Udoh.

“It’s hard and really when you’re talking about our backup center, when you lose him and so you’re really onto your third center in Chris Reed,’’ Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “It was a good environment, loud (and) we had some snap-count issues. … We just didn’t execute smoothly early on. … Brian O’Neill I thought was a big loss for us, but Oli stepped in there, as the expectation is, and did some solid things.”

O’Connell doesn’t know how long O’Neill could be out. But it appears he will miss some game action.

“It sounds like we’re going to need (Udoh), to be determined on how long,’’ O’Connell said.

O’Connell at least did say that the Vikings “should get Garrett back at some point.” In the meantime, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said he and Reed will “need to get more work together in practice.”

Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw said it was “very difficult” losing two starting offensive linemen early in the game.

“No matter who comes in, we know we’ve got a job responsibility,’’ Darrisaw said. “We did our best that we could.”

Another Metellus block

One of the few Vikings bright spots Sunday was safety Josh Metellus blocking a punt for the second straight game. Actually, he got one for the second straight quarter.

In a 27-24 win Dec. 24 over the New York Giants, Metellus went up the middle and had a key blocked punt in the fourth quarter. Then early in the first quarter against the Packers, he again went up the middle and blocked a punt by Pat O’Donnell.

“Pat Jones and D.J. (Wonnum) opened it up,’’ Metellus said of the two outside linebackers. “They’re big guys and me, a little guy, just wrapping right behind them and they didn’t see me. Got a clean hand on it. My hand was red for the whole first quarter.”

Metellus’ block gave the Vikings first-and-goal at the 1. However, they had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Greg Joseph for a 3-0 lead.

“We talk about how important momentum is in this league,’’ said wide receiver Adam Thielen. “We didn’t do it (Sunday) after getting that big play, and getting the ball on the 1-yard line.”

Big return

After Joseph’s field goal with 10:38 left in the first quarter, the Vikings held the lead for just 13 seconds. That’s because Keisean Nixon returned the ensuing kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown to give the Packers the lead for good at 7-3 with 10:25 remaining.

“It looked like we might have gotten out of one of our interior run lanes,’’ O’Connell said. “I don’t exactly know who it was. We’ll take a look at it. But it did open up right in the middle of the field and that’s exactly what you don’t want when you start talking covering kicks. They were able to get a big play.”

Hinton’s debut

This time Kyle Hinton’s father got to see him play.

Curt Hinton had flown in from Phoenix to hopefully see the Vikings guard play against the Giants after he had been elevated from the practice squad the previous day. But Hinton was inactive for the game.

Hinton was again elevated to the active roster Saturday, and on Sunday he made his NFL regular-season debut on special teams. And his father was on hand.

Hinton is in his third season after being a seventh-round pick in 2020. He had first come close to getting into a regular-season game when he was signed to the 53-man roster the day before the 2020 finale at Detroit. But he made inactive.

Defensive lineman T.J. Smith, who also was elevated from the practice squad Saturday, made his season debut Sunday. Smith, a third-year pro playing in his second regular-season game, got in for some defensive snaps.

Briefly

Duke Shelley got his third straight start at cornerback, ahead of Cameron Dantzler, who has been working his way back from an ankle injury. After missing two straight games and six of past seven, Dantzler got some snaps in a reserve roll. … The Vikings will close the regular season next Sunday at Chicago, but a time for the game has yet to be determined. … Joseph’s first-quarter boot extended his streak of consecutive field goals made to 14. But he then missed field goals from 46 and 50 yards.

Related Articles