The Vikings could be without 34-year old CB Antoine Winfield this weekend due to a neck problem.  He has played in all 4 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has 35 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  Winfield is the heart and soul of the defense, so they hope he somehow can play and deal with WR Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals this Sunday.  If he can’t go (which is very likely), the Vikings hope that 24-year old Chris Cook will step up.  The 24-year old Cook has played in all 4 games for the Vikings so far this year and he has 13 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 2 passes defensed.

The Vikings have released 27-year old DE Adrian Awasom.  Awasom played in 1 game for the Vikings this year and he had 3 tackles.  He has now played in 16 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 17 tackles and 1 sack.  The Vikings shouldn’t miss him too much going forward.

The NFL has suspended 31-year old DT Kevin Williams for the first two games of the 2011 season due to him testing positive in the past for banned substances.  He played in 16 games for the Vikings last year and he had 39 tackles, 1 sack, 7 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 10 passes defensed.  Williams has now played in 126 games in his first 8 years in the NFL (all with the Vikings) and he has 366 tackles, 39 tackles for a loss, 49.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries, 52 passes defensed and 4 interceptions (2 returned for TDs).  The Vikings are definitely going to miss Williams, as he is a big key to their run defense.

The Vikings have released 28-year old offensive lineman Ryan Cook.  Cook played in 16 games (7 starts) for the Vikings last year.  He played in 70 games (40 starts) in his five years with the Vikings.  The Vikings are going to miss Cook’s versatility on the O-Line as he could play center, guard or tackle.  He was quickly signed by the Miami Dolphins.

The Vikings have claimed 26-year old linebacker Xavier Adibi off waivers from the Texans.  He played in 11 games for the Texans last year and he had 22 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 2 tackles for a loss.  He has now played in 34 games in his first 3 years in the NFL and he has 68 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery.   A change of scenery might make a big difference for Adibi.

The Vikings have released 29-year old linebacker Heath Farwell.  Farwell played in all 16 games for the Vikings last year and he had 16 tackles.  Farwell has played in 71 games in his five years with the Vikings and he had 100 tackles and 3 fumble recoveries.  The Vikings think they can find a new special teams ace to replace Farwell in 2011 and down the road.

The Vikings have waived 30-year old TE/FB Jeff Dugan.  Dugan played in 16 games (4 starts) for the Vikings last year and he caught 4 passes for 30 yards (7.5 avg).  He also caught 2 passes for 2 yards (1.0 avg) last year.  Dugan played in 79 games (22 starts) for the Vikings in his 7 years with them and he caught 27 passes for 191 yards (7.1 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 11 times for 23 yards (2.1 ypc) for the Vikings.  This isn’t much of a loss for the Vikings as Dugan was more of a blocker than a playmaker.

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 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.