Adam Thielen - Pro Football Rumors

Injury Updates: Thielen, Moreau, Andrews, Guice, Chark

December 8th, 2019 at 9:17pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Here are the latest injury updates from around the league as you enjoy Sunday Night Football:

Adam Thielen missed another game with his hamstring issue Sunday, but he should be back out there soon. “All parties are optimistic” that the Vikings will have their star receiver when they play a pivotal Week 15 game against the Chargers, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Thielen has only played eight games this season, and in two of those he played only a handful of snaps.
The Raiders have been pretty banged up recently, and they took another blow during their crucial loss to the Titans. Tight end Foster Moreau went down with a knee injury, and Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said after the game he could be done for the season. Moreau doesn’t play a huge role as a pass-catcher, but he has had a couple of big games and has been playing around half of the team’s offensive snaps.
Ravens fans were left holding their breath when breakout tight end Mark Andrews left their victory over the Bills and didn’t return, but fortunately it doesn’t appear to be anything too serious. Andrews suffered a contusion between his knee and thigh a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, and the “indication is it’s nothing major” (Twitter link). That’s good news, but Baltimore does have a short week with a Thursday Night Football game against the Jets waiting. It wouldn’t be surprising if Andrews misses that one, but it doesn’t sound like it’ll be a longterm absence.
Derrius Guice has had brutal injury luck so far in his young NFL career, so it was terrible to see the Redskins running back go down with another knee issue during their loss to the Packers. Fortunately it seems like he might’ve dodged a bullet, as Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets that the initial diagnosis is an MCL sprain. It seems like Guice could miss some time and potentially the rest of the season, but fortunately it doesn’t appear to be anything long-term. Guice missed his entire rookie season due to a torn ACL that resulted in multiple infections, and then missed the first eight games of this season with a knee injury.
The Jaguars have been getting embarrassed weekly recently, and now things are getting even worse. On the heels of their 45-10 blowout loss to the Chargers, it looks like they could be without top receiver D.J. Chark moving forward. Chark left the game with an ankle injury, and his “left foot was in a protective boot and he left the locker room using a scooter” after the game, tweets Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com. Chark has been having a breakout year and has 881 yards with eight touchdowns, and it now seems like his sophomore campaign could be over.

We’ll have more on all the other big injuries suffered today as soon as there are additional details to pass along.

Vikings Rule Out Adam Thielen

December 2nd, 2019 at 12:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Vikings are expected to promote wide receiver Alexander Hollins from the practice squad, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The undrafted rookie out of Eastern Illinois gives them four healthy receivers tonight against the Seahawks, as Adam Thielen remains out with a hamstring injury.

Hollins, a 6’1″ target, joined the Vikings’ taxi squad shortly after missing the final cut in late August. At Eastern Illinois, Hollins ended his collegiate career with 127 career receptions, good for tenth on the program’s all-time list. In his final year, he had five games with 100 yards receiving, including a 167-yard breakout against Indiana State.

Thielen, meanwhile, has not seen double-digit snaps since Week 6. Due to his nagging injury, Thielen will see his 1,000-yard streak end after two exceptional seasons, though he hopes to be back in action to help the Vikings in the playoff hunt. As of today, the Vikings have a 90% chance of reaching the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight, with a 42% chance of winning the NFC North. A win over the Seahawks would bring them to 10-3 and virtually solidify their spot in the postseason.

In eight games this year, Thielen has 27 catches for 391 yards and six scores.

North Notes: Robinson, Thielen, Browns

November 30th, 2019 at 7:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

Allen Robinson sounds confident the he and the Bears will discuss an extension at some point. The sixth-year wide receiver has enjoyed his best season since 2015, averaging 70.8 yards per game and having become the Bears’ most reliable skill-position player. The 27-year-old wideout sounds willing to wait, however. He is signed through the 2020 season.

“My focus is just to finish the season strong, and I am sure at some point in time whether it’s my agent starting it or them, it will be talked about,” Robinson said, via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “There is a good amount of time. So many different scenarios can play out. The time will come.”

Although no guaranteed money remains on Robinson’s three-year, $42MM deal, he is set to earn $10.9MM in base salary next season and is certainly not at risk of being released.

Here is the latest from the North divisions:

Adam Thielen‘s last game featuring double-digit snaps came in Week 6, but the Vikings‘ highest-paid skill-position player is trending in a better direction for Monday night’s game. Battling a hamstring injury, Thielen returned to practice Friday and got in two limited workouts this week. He does not expect to be a game-time decision, per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter), so the Vikings (and certain fantasy owners) may have some advance notice. Thielen will see his 1,000-yard streak likely stop after two seasons, but the 29-year-old standout is certainly pivotal to Minnesota’s hopes at winning the NFC North.
This will not be the week David Njoku returns to the Browns’ skill-position arsenal. The Browns did not activate their top tight end by Saturday afternoon’s deadline, so he will miss another game. With Njoku having returned to practice on Nov. 20, the Browns do not have to activate him until Dec. 10. If Njoku is not activated by then, he will spend the rest of the season on IR. The third-year tight end underwent surgery for a broken wrist during his IR stay.
Cleveland will be without left tackle Greg Robinson as well. The oft-scrutinized former No. 2 overall pick did not practice this week and will remain in concussion protocol through Week 13. Kyle Murphy started for Robinson at left tackle when he was benched earlier this year. The Browns, however, gave the sixth-year blocker his job back soon after.
Yet another Andre Smith stint with the Bengals will come to an end. The winless team waived the veteran tackle on Saturday.

Vikings Activate Josh Doctson

November 15th, 2019 at 2:29pm CST by Zachary Links

The Vikings have activated wide receiver Josh Doctson, per a club announcement. The former first-round pick could be in line to make his season debut on Sunday with Adam Thielen out for yet another week.

The Vikings signed Doctson towards the end of August, shortly after cutting Laquon Treadwell, who was taken one spot behind him in the 2016 draft. Treadwell has since returned to Minnesota, meaning that the two may actually take the field together.

Doctson’s next game with Minnesota will be his first in purple – at least, his first in Vikings purple. Before joining the Vikings, Doctson started 26 games across the previous two years for the Redskins, but registered just 79 total catches for 1,034 yards and eight touchdowns. Last year, he placed 96th out of 107 qualifying wideouts in yards per route run last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Those numbers aren’t great, but the potential is still there. His history with quarterback Kirk Cousins may also help.

Besides Doctson, Treadwell, and the injured Thielen, the Vikings also currently have wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Olabisi Johnson in the mix.

North Notes: Vikings, Conner, JuJu, Lions

November 8th, 2019 at 3:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 2017 draft class will become extension-eligible in January, and Dalvin Cook‘s contract figures to be one the key talking points once the calendar flips to the 2020 offseason. The Vikings are one of the few teams to have paid a running back top-market money, via Adrian Peterson‘s $14.4MM-AAV pact from 2011. With Cook’s contract not containing a fifth-year option like Christian McCaffrey‘s does, the Vikings will likely have to address his deal sooner than the Panthers will need to negotiate with their All-Pro candidate. Ezekiel Elliott‘s $15MM-per-year deal represents the new running back benchmark. Although Cook has been injury-prone, he will surely seek a contract in the Elliott-Todd Gurley–Le’Veon Bell–David Johnson tax bracket (north of $13MM annually).

“Running backs are valuable,” Cook said, via ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin. “For guys to get rewarded for how physical, how much they get their bodies ready each and every week to go take that pounding, guys [are] getting rewarded for that. The running back value kind of went down, but I think we’re just as valuable as any position.”

Here is the latest from the North divisions:

Adam Thielen will not play Sunday night. The Vikings ruled out their highest-paid wide receiver for Week 10’s Cowboys contest. Thielen has dealt with this hamstring injury since Week 7, missing Minnesota’s game against the Redskins and exiting last week’s Chiefs game after seven snaps.
One of Cook’s 2017 draft classmates, James Conner, will also need at least another week to recover from injury. The Steelers ruled out Conner for Week 10. They also added JuJu Smith-Schuster to this week’s injury report Friday. Pittsburgh’s top wideout is questionable to face the Rams with a toe injury.
Lions safety Miles Killebrew suffered a concussion during Thursday’s practice, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com notes. The Lions moved Killebrew to linebacker last year, but the trade of Quandre Diggs and Tracy Walker‘s knee injury prompted the team to shift Killebrew back to safety recently. UFA addition Tavon Wilson, third-round rookie Will Harris and rookie UDFA C.J. Moore are the Lions’ only healthy safeties. Killebrew and Walker are out for Sunday’s Bears tilt
The Lions’ two-year extension for Christian Jones features a short-term sacrifice for a 2020 payment. The deal reduces the linebacker’s 2019 salary from $2.45MM to the veteran minimum, which will be worth approximately $426K for the season’s remainder. In exchange, Jones will receive a $1.97MM signing bonus, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com tweets. The through-2021 deal averages $2.92MM. Detroit tacked on a voidable 2022 year, in order to spread the bonus across three seasons instead of two.

Injury Updates: Bengals, Vikes, Cards, Jets

November 6th, 2019 at 3:41pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green had been expected to return to game action in Week 10 against the Ravens, and head coach Zac Taylor even confirmed as much this morning, per Paul Dehner of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, Green didn’t practice Wednesday after experiencing ankle swelling during Cincinnati’s walkthrough and is now considered day-to-day, tweets Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, so it’s unclear if Green will still be ready for Baltimore. Green hasn’t played a single snap this year after suffering ankle damage during the preseason. When he does return, he’ll be catching passes from a new quarterback (rookie Ryan Finley) as he makes his case for an extension.

Here’s more on the injury front:

Adam Thielen returned to action last Sunday following a hamstring injury-induced absence and quickly re-aggravated the ailment, but Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer disputes that Thielen came back too quickly, tweets Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. While it’s not apparent if Thielen will play against the Cowboys in Week 10, it doesn’t appear the veteran wideout is dealing with a long-term injury. Minnesota faces Denver in Week 11 before heading to its bye, so the Vikings could conceivably take an overly-cautious approach and hold Thielen out until Week 13, although that could be difficult to do given the tight NFC playoff race.
Cardinals running back David Johnson has missed the past two games with back and ankle injuries, but he says he’ll “definitely” be playing when Arizona faces off with Tampa Bay this week, per Kyle Odegard of AZCardinals.com (Twitter link). With both Johnson and backup Chase Edmonds facing health questions, the Cardinals shipped a conditional sixth-round pick to the Dolphins for Kenyan Drake, who proceeded to rush for 110 yards against the 49ers in Week 9.
Le’Veon Bell did not suffer any structural damage to his knee in the fourth quarter of a Week 9 loss to the Dolphins, reports Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. While Bell didn’t practice on Wednesday, he is expected to be ready when the Jets face the Colts on Sunday. Gang Green did promote running back Josh Adams from its practice squad earlier this week, but that move was likely executed as a fail-safe against a possible Bell absence.
Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett left Week 9 after incurring a left MCL strain, but he was able to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday, according to Mike Wells of ESPN.com. That news should at least give Brissett a chance to play against the Dolphins on Sunday, although head coach Frank Reich noted it’s not a “slam dunk” that Brissett is available. Indianapolis would turn to veteran backup Brian Hoyer in Brissett’s absence.

Injury Updates: Brissett, Conner, Thielen

November 3rd, 2019 at 9:38pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Colts have been having a surprisingly strong season after Andrew Luck retired, but everyone in Indy was left holding their breath when Jacoby Brissett went down with a knee injury. After the game, head coach Frank Reich said it was a sprain that was “MCL-ish.” Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like Brissett tore anything. Quarterbacks can usually play through MCL sprains, so it doesn’t sound like Brissett will be on the shelf too long. Brian Hoyer filled in and had the Colts in position to win the game late, but Adam Vinatieri missed a 43-yard kick with a minute to go.

Here are more injury updates from around the league:

Steelers rookie running back Benny Snell had surgery to trim his meniscus recently and will be sidelined for 2-3 weeks, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Snell was a fourth-round pick back in April. Speaking of Pittsburgh’s backfield, starter James Conner didn’t suit up against the Colts today, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets that he’s in danger of missing next week’s game against the Rams. For now, Jaylen Samuels will continue to gobble up most of the snaps.
Standout rookie UDFA Preston Williams suffered a knee injury, casting a damper on the Dolphins’ first win of the season. Despite going undrafted Williams has become a key player for Miami, starting all of their games thus far. The injury is a “sprained knee and the hope is that it’s not more serious,” tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. We should know more about the severity soon. Williams had five catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Jets before going down.
Vikings receiver Adam Thielen returned after a one-game absence due to a hamstring injury, and quickly re-aggravated it. He didn’t return to Minnesota’s loss to Kansas City, and while there’s no word yet on the severity, hamstring issues can linger. They’ll likely be more cautious about rushing their star receiver back this time.

Vikings WR Adam Thielen Ruled Out

October 23rd, 2019 at 3:23pm CST by Marc Delucchi

As expected, the Vikings have officially ruled wide receiver Adam Thielen out for Thursday Night’s matchup against Washington, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. Thielen pulled his hamstring in the Vikings win against the Lions on Sunday.

On the heels of their victory against Detroit, Minnesota stands at 5-2 and in prime of NFC playoff position. Quarterback Kirk Cousins has had an erratic season thus far, but over the past few weeks has been fantastic. He aims to build upon that success next week, but it will have to come without his best best receiver.

Thielen currently leads the league in receiving touchdowns with six and has accrued nearly 400 receiving yards as well. This success is nothing new for Thielen, who has been one of the league’s best wideouts over the past two seasons. While things will obviously be difficult, Stefon Diggs, the team’s number two receiver, would be the number one option on a number of teams around the league.

Furthermore, previous reports suggested the team is hopeful that Thielen will be able to return relatively quickly. It definitely helps their cause that their next opponent, Washington, has been one of the worst teams in the league.

Adam Thielen To Miss Time?

October 21st, 2019 at 12:00pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Vikings picked up another big win Sunday, toppling the Lions in Detroit and moving to 5-2 on the year. It wasn’t all positive for Minnesota however, as they picked up a key injury.

Star receiver Adam Thielen left the game with a pulled hamstring injury and was unable to return. But, on Monday afternoon, he received good news on that front: He’s unlikely to face the Redskins on Thursday night, but there’s optimism that he won’t miss much time, as NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. That’s a step up from Sunday night’s word – the team was concerned that he’s would be not “day to day, but week to week,” a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com (Twitter link).

Hamstrings can be tricky, so the Vikes hope they will not be without their top option for multiple games. Florio also adds that Thielen will have an MRI tomorrow to determine the severity. The offense started the year slowly as the Vikings limped to a 2-2 record, with Thielen publicly calling out quarterback Kirk Cousins and Cousins apologizing. Ever since then the unit has been on fire, and a large part of that is due to Thielen’s play.

It sounds like Thielen will rest up instead of suiting up on a short week. After that, he’ll try to build on what he’s been doing lately. Over the last three games, Thielen has four touchdowns to his credit.

Vikings, Adam Thielen Agree To Extension

April 12th, 2019 at 4:06pm CST by Rory Parks

The Vikings and star wideout Adam Thielen have agreed to a four-year, $64MM extension with a maximum value of $73MM, per Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune. He will earn $35MM in guaranteed money. We heard last month that the two sides were working on a new deal, and they were able to hammer out an agreement that pays Thielen at a rate commensurate with his abilities and recent production.

Thielen had two years and $13.5MM remaining on his present contract, so as Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network tweets, it appears as if he is now under team control for the next six seasons at a $77.5MM base value. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Thielen will receive $35MM in guaranteed money.

Of course, extensions can be difficult to come by when a player has more than one year remaining on his contract, but Thielen is not just any player. An undrafted Division II product, Thielen has put together back-to-back 1,200-plus-yard seasons, going for 1,373 and a career-high nine touchdown receptions in 2018. He watched teammate Stefon Diggs sign a five-year, $72MM extension with $40MM guaranteed last summer, and now he has leapfrogged Diggs in terms of average annual value (he is now the sixth-highest paid WR in the league in that regard).

Thielen, who will turn 29 in August, has earned Pro Bowl nods in each of the last two seasons, and he figures to be a critical part of the team’s fortunes going forward. He was due to carry an $8.1MM cap hit this season, but that will likely be reduced as a result of the extension.

His deal continues the Vikings’ trend of locking up core players before they can taste free agency. The team now has a foundation of Thielen, Diggs, Danielle Hunter, Linval Joseph, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith, Riley Reiff, Shamar Stephen, and Mike Hughes under contract through at least 2021 (hat tip to ESPN’s Field Yates on Twitter).

Thielen will address the media tomorrow.