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Minnesota Vikings

Mattison looks likely for quick return

With the week of practices complete, it doesn’t look like Ty Chandler will be starting for the Vikings. Alexander Mattison was a full participant in practice today, making it look very likely that he’ll be available for his usual duties.

This isn’t what I expected when I wrote up the Minnesota preview on Tuesday. I have been tracking concussion carefully this year, and usually a player misses a week after being diagnosed. Via the league-issued injury reports, 86 players have shown up with concussions this year, and only 27 of those guys played the next week.

Mattison didn’t practice Wednesday, but he returned as a limited participant on Thursday and ramped up work today. The team is calling him “questionable”.

Going back to our 86 players suffering concussions. Of those guys, 14 were listed as questionable the first Friday after the concussion. Only seven of those guys played. But only seven of those 14 players were full participants on Friday, and all but one of those guys played.

K.J. Osborn of these same Vikings (presumably with the same neurologist) last week tracked the same way as Mattison. He played.

Mattison hasn’t yet been cleared, but I’m very confident that will happen before Sunday. He’ll be playing in Denver, in his usual role.

Note, however, that Mattison’s “usual role” nowadays has been as more of a committee back. They tried him as a full-time kind of back early in the season, and it didn’t go well. More recently, he’s been sharing time with Cam Akers and now Chandler. Even before Mattison left Sunday’s game, he was splitting the work with Chandler.

QUESTIONABLE WITH CONCUSSION
WkPlayerWedThuFriPlay?
2Christian Izien, T.B.DNPLPFPyes
5Cam Taylor-Britt, Cin.DNPLPFPyes
5Jon Feliciano, S.F.DNPDNPFPyes
6Lucas Patrick, Chi.DNPDNPFPyes
10K.J. Osborn, Min.DNPLPFPyes
10Jamel Dean, T.B.DNPLPFPyes
10Terrel Bernard, Buff.LPLPLPyes
2Sidy Sow, N.E.DNPDNPDNPno
2Trent Brown, N.E.DNPDNPDNPno
4Jimmy Garoppolo, L.V.DNPLPLPno
4• Jonathan Mingo, Car.LPLPFPno
5Andrus Peat, N.O.DNPDNPLPno
6Dalton Kincaid, Buff.LPLPLPno
6Tank Dell, Hou.DNPDNPLPno
11Alexander Mattison, Min.DNPLPFP?

—Ian Allan

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