Vikings place DE Kenny Willekes on Reserve/COVID-19

The Vikings have mostly been disappointing in 2021, but there have been occasional silver linings, such as DE Kenny Willekes.

Willekes, who suffered a season-ending injury in 2020, has worked his way into the defensive line rotation recently, despite being on the practice squad still. Minnesota promoted him to the active roster as a COVID-19 replacement this week.

Then, Willekes hit a snag in his comeback story. The Vikings announced that they placed the defensive end on the COVID-19/Reserve list on Friday. Minnesota signed DE Eddie Yarbrough in Willekes’ place.

Willekes played in both the Cowboys and Ravens games and had a solid pressure rate in limited snaps. With Danielle Hunter out for the year, the Vikings still need depth edge rushers to step up.

Yarbrough signed with the Vikings last year and played in four games. Like Willekes, Yarbrough will be expected to provide an edge rush in limited reps on Sunday.