EAGAN, Minn. – The injury that has sidelined Anthony Barr, the Minnesota Vikings defender, since early August, could put him in danger of missing the team’s Week 1 NFL game in Cincinnati.
Barr has not practiced since Aug. 5 with an undisclosed injury. After the Vikings’ 12-10 loss to Indianapolis, coach Mike Zimmer did not reveal what keeps Barr offside, but said the injury is not related to the tearing of his end-of-season pectoral muscle that the defender suffered two weeks of the 2020 season.
According to Adam Zimmer, defense coordinator / striker coach, the uncertainty surrounding Barr’s injury calls into question his availability for the opening.
“Today I can’t tell you if it will be ready in week 1 or not,” Adam Zimmer said Tuesday. “He’s doing his best to get back there. I hope we have him in Week 1. If not, we’ll have someone step in and he’ll play for us.”
As Barr reappears behind the scenes, the Vikings will try to use several sub-packs inside their defense corps if necessary.
“We’ll work it out, either by playing a different package or one of the guys we have on the list,” Adam Zimmer said. “The one from Troy [Dye] he played us several positions before. Chazz [Surratt] can play several positions, and I thought Blake [Lynch] he did a good job the other night against the Colts. It was his best performance since we had him. Therefore, we will find a role and find the best way to match our base staff in this way. “
Teams are not required to disclose injury information until week 1 of the regular season. If Barr’s injury remains a problem in two weeks, it will be publicly noticed for the first time on September 8th.
“It’s not a concern as a football player. It’s a concern perhaps a little bit about his health,” Mike Zimmer said Saturday. “So we’re taking it with real children’s gloves. But we’re missing him. We can do so many different things with him that allow the rest of the boys, as well as do a good job communicating with everyone. We’re just careful with he “.