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.

The Vikings have lost safety Madieu Williams for the next 6-8 weeks because of a neck injury.  This will hurt the Vikings big time as rookie Tyrell Johnson could be thrown into the fire and have to start when the season begins.  Williams is an enforcer type against the run and he also makes big plays against the pass.  He played in 13 games for the Bengals last season and he made 58 tackles, had 2 sacks, 2 interceptions, defensed 7 passes and he forced a fumble.  The back end of the defense will miss Williams.

The Vkings have placed linebacker Heath Farwell (injured knee) and DE Jayme Mitchell (torn ACL) on the Injured Reserve List ending the season before it began for them.  Farwell is a special teams ace.  He played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he made 30 tackles.  Farwell has played in 39 games in his NFL career and he has made 65 tackles.  Mitchell played in 13 games for the Vikings last season and he made 9 tackles, had 3 sacks and forced 1 fumble.  Mitchell has now played in 23 games in his NFL career and he has made 17 tackles, has 4 sacks and he has forced a fumble.  This will hurt the depth of the Vikings’ defense and special teams but neither Farwell or Mitchell is an impact player.

The Vikings have lost Ray Edwards (NFL 4-game suspension for using steroids) and Erasmus James (tore same ACL he injured last season) for the rest of the regular season (James the whole season).  Edwards played in 12 games this season for the Vikings and he made 30 tackles, had 5 sacks and defended 2 passes.  James only played in 6 games this season and he made 7 tackles and had one sack.  Rookie DE Brian Robison will take over in the starting lineup for the Vikings.  He has played in 12 games this season and he has 13 tackles, 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

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The Vkings have placed DT Darrion Scott on Injured Reserve ending his season.  Scott broke his foot in practice on Monday.  He only made 1 tackle this season but he is a decent player and this will hurt the depth of the D-Line with him out.