Final Minnesota Vikings Injury Report Reveals Possible Illness in Running Back Room

The Minnesota Vikings are gearing up for the first playoff game of Sam Darnold’s NFL career, a game that was rerouted from Los Angeles, California — where he was born, raised and played college football for three years at USC — to the desert of Glendale, Arizona, as the LA area continues to battle wildfires through the weekend.

It’s a playoff game that will have a very weird feel to it, especially inside State Farm Stadium. The crowd will probably have something close to a 50/50 split between Vikings fans and Rams fans, maybe 60/40 one way or another (I’d bet on slightly more Vikings fans).

Final Minnesota Vikings injury report vs Los Angeles Rams – Wildcard Round

But at the end of the day, this contest will be decided on the field, by the players of each team. And this deep into an NFL season, the final injury report is always worth keeping an eye on. But on Saturday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings injury report didn’t reveal any surprise injuries.

Instead, we got another backup running back who is questionable to play because of a pop-up illness. On Friday, Ty Chandler landed on the injury report for the first time this week, with an illness. Now, one day later, Aaron Jones No. 1 replacement, Cam Akers, is questionable for an illness of his own.

Cam Akers has played a pretty big part in the Minnesota Vikings offense, since November 3 vs the Colts, about three weeks after trading for him. In total, Akers has played 186 snaps for the purple, carrying the ball 64 times for 297 yards and one touchdown.

The 25-year-old back out of Florida State has also caught 10 passes (on 11 targets) for 52 yards receiving and 2 more touchdowns. Akers is a much better blocker than Ty Chandler, too. So without a doubt, it would hurt to lose Akers to a surprise illness. Thankfully, Kevin O’Connell told reporters that he is expected to go.

Other Minnesota Vikings injuries

In some good news, Taki Taimani, who has been on injured reserve since November 1 with an ankle injury, was the only other Minnesota Vikings player listed on Saturday’s final injury report. He had his 21-day practice window opened earlier this week and could be activated before Monday night’s game, if he is ready and the Vikings choose to do so.

Pat Jones will miss his second-straight game, after suffering a knee injury in week 17 vs the Green Bay Packers, with just eight defensive snaps under his belt. Jones played a crucial role, down the stretch, for the Vikings. He put up 6 QB hurries between weeks 13 and 16. PFF gave him an 80.4 defensive grade in his final full game vs Seahawks.

Mentioned in this article: Cam Akers Injury Report injury updates Patrick Jones II Taki Taimani