The Minnesota Vikings have won their past two games, but that still wasn’t enough to save them from being eliminated from playoff contention in Week 15. With nothing left to play for over the team’s final three games, they are taking the safe route with some of their players, which led to a tough decision being made on star left tackle Christian Darrisaw.
Darrisaw struggled to get fully healthy after returning from a left knee injury that ended his season early in 2024, and while he managed to suit up in 10 games, the team decided to shut him down and place him on injured reserve earlier this week. When discussing the move, head coach Kevin O’Connell issued an emotional admission on the injury woes Darrisaw battled throughout the year.
Kevin O’Connell Gets Real on Christian Darrisaw’s Injury Situation
After getting selected with the No. 23 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Darrisaw quickly turned himself into one of the top left tackles in the NFL. The problem for him has simply been staying on the field. Darrisaw has missed at least two games in each of his first five seasons, and he will now end up playing in just 17 contests over the past two years.
Darrisaw suffered a knee injury in Week 8 last season that cut his campaign short, and while he managed to return to action this year, he was never fully healthy. Working with Minnesota’s team medical team, Darrisaw was able to gut out 10 games this year, but with the postseason out of the picture, it simply made the most sense to shut him down and let him get healthy.
Not much has gone the Vikings’ way this season, and Darrisaw’s injury woes certainly fall into that category. O’Connell isn’t faulting Darrisaw for struggling to stay on the field, though, and when discussing the team’s decision to place him on injured reserve, Minnesota’s leader made it clear just how much he and the rest of the squad appreciated the former first-round pick’s determination to play whenever he could this season.
“It has been a really unique year for him, and one that I think he’ll be able to really grow from,” O’Connell said of Darrisaw. “Just some of the adversity throughout that, and how he handled it and attacked it will be a real positive, and it’s something I know a lot of his teammates were really thankful for.”
Vikings Looking to Finish 2025 Campaign on a High Note
GettyVikings head coach Kevin O’Connell
At this point, all eyes are on the 2026 campaign in Minnesota, so protecting Darrisaw as much as possible is the best thing the team can do. Over the final three games of the 2025 regular season, the Vikings are going to look to continue developing second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who has shown substantial improvements as of late after a horrid start to the season.
After taking down the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys in back-to-back weeks, Minnesota will have a shot to earn its third-straight win in Week 16 when it takes on the New York Giants. Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET, and if McCarthy can turn in another strong performance, the Vikings should be able to come out on top in this one.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Vikings Coach Makes Emotional Admission on Christian Darrisaw’s ‘Unique’ Struggle appeared first on Heavy Sports.
