The Vikings have lost 29-year old starting linebacker E.J. Henderson for the season due to a broken femur.  Henderson played in 12 games for the Vikings this season and he made 83 tackles, had 6 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and he defensed 1 pass.  The Vikings will miss Henderson big time as he was the teams’ leading tackler at the time of his injury.  24-year old rookie Jasper Brinkley will replace Henderson in the starting line-up.  Brinkley was a fifth round pick out of South Carolina in last April’s NFL Draft.  He has played in 12 games for the Vikings this season and he has made 10 tackles this season.  It will be interesting to see if Brinkley can handle the pressure of replacing a player like Henderson.

Vikings’ CB Antoine Winfield has a 85% chance of returning to the Vikings this weekend against the Seahawks.  He has played in 6 games this season for the Vikings and he has 30 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 4 passes defensed and 1 interception.  Winfield is strong in run support and the Vikings need him back big time.  Benny Sapp has done a decent job replacing Winfield as he has 12 tackles and he has defensed 2 passes in his 3 starts this year.  With Sapp playing decent the Vikings could decide to error on the side of caution with Winfield as they need him healthy to help the D down the stretch.

The Minnesota Vikings will be without Antoine Winfield for the next 4-6 weeks due to a fracture in his right foot.  Winfield has played in 6 games this season for the Vikings and he has made 30 tackles, defensed 4 passes and picked off 1.  28-year old Benny Sapp will replace Winfield in the starting lineup and that is a huge downgrade.  Sapp has played in 7 games for the Vikings this season and he has 16 tackles and he has defensed 2 passes.  This injury will definately hurt the Vikings as Winfield is a force defending the run or the pass.

Adrian Peterson’s back is tired from carrying the entire Minnesota Vikings team so far this season.  He injured his back in the Vikings week two win over the Detroit Lions but it won’t keep him out of the Vikings’ game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.  Peterson says the injury “is not a big deal.”  In two games so far this season Peterson has rushed for 272 yards on 40 carries (6.8 avg) and has four touchdowns.  That 6.8 yards per carry is pretty amazing and Peterson is probably the best player in the NFL right now, if you don’t believe me check out some of his highlights here:

The Vikings will likely be without starting linebacker E.J. Henderson on Monday Night against the Saints due to swelling in two dislocated toes.  This will hurt the Vikings’ defense as Henderson has 27 tackles and a sack so far this season.  David Herron will replace Henderson if he can’t go on Monday Night and he has 6 tackles this season.