It doesn't sound like Vikings defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, one of the team's most consistent players, will be available for Sunday's game against the Washington Commanders. Tomlinson is week-to-week with a calf injury that he picked up against the Cardinals, and the Vikings don't want to rush him back because of how important he is to their long-term success.
"We're really looking at that as week to week," head coach Kevin O'Connell said. "We'll see how he progresses, if he's able to possibly make the trip with us and maybe be a game-time decision. We want to make sure, the type of season he's had and the impact he's had on our team, I want to make sure D.T. gets back healthy enough to really sustain now. We're through the bye, we're going to have a ten-game stretch here where hopefully we're fighting to play some extra football, and we want to make sure that we're not pushing him too fast, too soon.
"He's shown to attack that rehab, and we're certainly not going to stand in the way of him trying to make it this weekend."
Reading between the lines, it sounds like there's a slight possibility Tomlinson could play, but the best-case scenario would be that he travels with the team to Washington and is a game-time decision. That'll depend on how things progress this week. Tomlinson was absent from Wednesday's practice.
Realistically, holding Tomlinson out this week is probably the smart move. He's such a valuable part of their defense — out of 67 qualified defensive tackles, he ranks 15th in overall PFF grade and 8th in pass rush grade — that it makes sense to make sure he's as healthy as possible when he returns to action. The ideal scenario might be letting him continue to heal this weekend in the hopes of having him for next week's marquee game against the Bills, which could be a matchup of two 7-1 teams if they both win this weekend.
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