The Vikings will be without 26-year old linebacker Jasper Brinkley for the season due to recent hip surgery.  Brinkley played in all 16 games last year for the Vikings and he had 17 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  He has now played in 32 games in his first two years with the Vikings and he has 48 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and 1 forced fumble.  Most of his work is done on special teams, but his injury will still hurt the depth at linebacker for the Vikings in 2011.

The Vikings piled up a ton of yards last night but they couldn’t put enough points on the board to beat the Cowboys.  Donovan McNabb completed 12 of 18 passes for 164 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT last night.  He also carried the ball 1 time for 7 yards in this game.  Joe Webb was effective too as he completed 4 of 7 passes for 81 yards without a TD pass or interception.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 46 yards (23.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Christian Ponder only completed 3 of 8 passes for 60 yards with 0 TDs and INTs.  Ponder also carried the ball 1 time for 5 yards.  Adrian Peterson led the way on the ground for the Vikings last night with 81 yards on 14 carries (5.8 ypc).  Lorenzo Booker pitched in with 15 yards on 3 carries (5.0 ypc) last night.  WRs Bernard Berrian (2 rec, 64 yards, TD), Michael Jenkins (3 rec, 48 yards) and Percy Harvin (4 rec, 29 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Vikings last night.  The Vikings finished up with 175 yards rushing on 27 carries (6.5 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 33 passes (57.6%) for 267 yards last night.

CB Cedric Griffin (7 tackles) and LB David Herron (6 tackles) led the way for the Vikings’ D last night.  The Cowboys finished up with 117 yards rushing on 29 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 30 passes (70%) for 227 yards last night.  The Vikings are now 1-2 on the preseason.

26-year old Adrian Peterson is going to be a workhorse for the Vikings once again in 2011.  He played in 15 games (all starts) for the Vikings last year and he carried the ball 283 times for 1,298 yards (4.6 ypc) with 12 TD carries.  Peterson also caught 36 passes for 341 yards (9.5 avg) with 1 TD grab last night.  Peterson is quite simply, one of the top three RBs in all of football right now and I look for him to turn in a huge year in 2011 as long as he can stay healthy.  Peterson has now played in 61 games (54 starts) in his first four years with the Vikings and he has carried the ball 1,198 times for 5,782 yards (4.8 ypc) with 52 TD runs.  He has also caught 119 passes for 1,170 yards (9.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his career.

24-year old Toby Gerhart will be Peterson’s caddy once again in 2011.  He played in 15 games (1 start) as a rookie last year for the Vikings and he carried the ball 81 times for 322 yards (4.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 21 passes for 167 yards (8.0 avg) last year.  The Vikings are likely going to use Gerhart a tad more in 2011 to help lessen the pounding on Adrian Peterson.

27-year old Lorenzo Booker played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Vikings last year and he didn’t carry the ball at all.  He did catch 5 passes for 32 yards (6.4 avg) last year.  Booker has now played in 21 games (12 starts) in his first three years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 48 times for 178 yards (3.7 ypc).  He also has caught 39 passes for 280 yards (7.2 avg) in his NFL career so far.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE VIKINGS RBS IN 2011:  A+

The Vikings have signed 27-year old linebacker David Herron.  Herron played in 2 games for the Chargers last season and he had 2 tackles.  He has now played in 28 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 23 tackles.  Herron started his career with the Vikings in 2007 and 2008.  He played in 16 games in his first two years with the Vikings and he had 15 tackles.  Herron will try to make the Vikings as a special teams ace.

The Vikings have lost 30-year old G/T Scott Kooistra for the season as he underwent surgery yesterday to repair a spinal chord injury.  Kooistra didn’t play at all last season for the Ravens.  He was trying to make the Vikings as a backup in training camp.  Kooistra’s NFL career could be over due to this injury.  He has played in 84 games (1 start) in his first 8 years in the NFL.  Here’s to hoping that he has a full recovery.

The Vikings have signed 23-year old RB Caleb King after he went undrafted in the supplemental draft today.  King carried the ball 80 times for 430 yards (5.4 ypc) with 2 TD runs for the Georgia Bulldogs last year.  He also caught 2 passes for 8 yards (4.0 avg) last year for the Bulldogs.  King carried the ball 255 times in his three years at Georgia, good for 1,271 yards (5.0 ypc) with 10 TD runs.  He also caught 16 passes for 126 yards (7.9 avg) with 1 TD grab in college.  King will have to get off to a good start to make the Vikings’ roster as he is behind Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart, Lorenzo Booker and Tristan Davis on the depth chart.  That being said, I like this signing for the Vikings.

UPDATE:  (9/3/2011) – The Vikings have released Caleb King.

The Vikings have signed 32-year old DE Stylez G. White to a 1-year deal.  White played in all 16 games for the Buccaneers last year and he had 36 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss and 2 forced fumbles.  He has now played in 63 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 137 tackles, 24 sacks, 8 tackles for a loss, 2 fumble recoveries and 4 passes defensed.  This is a really solid signing for the Vikings as Stylez G. White is a good pass rusher.

UPDATE:  (9/3/2011) – The Vikings have released Stylez G. White.

The Minnesota Vikings looked a lot better on Saturday night than they did in the pre-season opener the week before.  Donovan McNabb looked a lot better in this game as he completed 6 of 8 passes for 81 yards without a TD pass or an interception.  Joe Webb was so-so as he completed 4 of 8 passes for 44 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 11 yards (5.5 ypc) in this game.  Christian Ponder was also so-so as he completed 6 of 12 passes for 53 yards without a TD pass or an interception.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 15 yards (5.0 ypc) in this game.  RBs Lorenzo Booker (7 carries, 37 yards, 5.3 ypc) and Tristan Davis (1 carry, 35 yards, TD) led the way for the Vikings in the running game.  WR Juaquin Iglesias (2 rec, 30 yards), Devin Aromashodu (2 rec, 30 yards) and TE Kyle Rudolph (3 rec, 22 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Vikings.  The Vikings finished up with 142 yards rushing on 27 carries (5.3 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 28 passes (57.1%) for 180 yards in this game.

LBs Larry Dean (7 tackles, 1 QB hit) and Erin Henderson (6 tackles) led the way for the Vikings’ D in this game.  CB Marcus Sherels made a huge impact in this game with 5 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a interception which he returned 64 yards for a TD!  The Seahawks finished up with 150 yards rushing on 31 carries (4.8 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 49 passes (55.1%) for 181 yards in this game.  The Vikings are now 1-1 on the pre-season.

The Vikings looked good on defense but awful on offense in the pre-season opener last night.  Donovan McNabb started at QB and he completed 6 of 11 passes for 40 yards with 0 TD passes or interceptions last night.  Joe Webb followed McNabb into the game and he completed 4 of 8 passes for 45 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 33 yards (6.6 ypc) last night.  Christian Ponder finished up the game by completing 8 of 13 passes for 84 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs.  He looked the best of the QBs last night.  RB Lorenzo Booker led the way both on the ground and in the air last night for the Vikings.  He carried the ball 9 times for 47 yards (5.2 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 32 yards (10.7 avg) in this game.  WR Bernard Berrian (2 rec, 12 yards) and fullback Matt Asiata (2 rec, 8 yards) were the only other receivers other than Booker that caught more than 1 pass last night.  The Vikings had 14 different receivers catching at least one pass last night.  The Vikings rushed for 98 yards on 22 carries (4.5 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 32 passes (56.3%) for 150 yards in this game.

Linebacker Erin Henderson led a solid overall effort by the Vikings’ D with 10 tackles and 2 tackles for a loss.  The Titans finished up with 96 yards rushing on 28 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 26 passes (65.4%) for 194 yards last night.  The Vikings need to straighten up offensively so that they don’t waste good defensive efforts like the one they got last night.

The Vikings have signed 25-year old cornerback Tony Carter.  Carter played in 2 games for the Patriots last year and he had 1 tackle.  He has now played in 4 games in his first two years in the NFL and he has 4 tackles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass defensed.  Carter is going to have to make the team on special teams before he gets a whiff of playing defense.

UPDATE:  (9/3/2011) – The Vikings have released Tony Carter.