In the middle of last week, it appeared that Vikings center Garrett Bradbury would make his return from a back injury for Sunday's game against the Panthers. Head coach Kevin O'Connell said last Wednesday that Bradbury "should be a full participant today."
Instead, Bradbury was listed as limited all week, went into the game with a questionable tag, and was ultimately inactive for the third consecutive contest.
"Garrett Bradbury is really close to trying to give it a go," O'Connell said on Monday. "Probably more of a situation where we had to protect him from himself a little bit, just knowing how tough Garrett is and wanting to be out there with his teammates, but want to be sensitive with that back injury. Expecting him to have a good week of prep this week, and ... barring any setbacks, to have a good chance to be out there this Sunday."
So maybe this will be the week. Bradbury has been out since he hurt his back just a few plays into the season opener, making Austin Schlottmann the full-time center ever since. PFF has actually given the Vikings' backup solid grades over the past two games. He didn't allow any pressures against Carolina.
Still, the Vikings will be happy to have Bradbury back whenever he's ready to go.
Other injury updates from O'Connell:
- Safety Lewis Cine missed this game with a hamstring injury. The Vikings are "hoping to get (him) some limited work and see how he progresses with that hamstring through the week," O'Connell said. Cine has only played on special teams this season.
- Marcus Davenport, Josh Metellus, and Byron Murphy Jr. "all came out relatively clean" from Sunday's game. They should be good to go against the Chiefs.
- Kene Nwangwu (IR) and Chris Reed (NFI) are eligible to return starting this week, but the Vikings haven't yet had conversations about potentially opening their windows to return to practice. "I think both those guys are progressing," O'Connell said. "They're doing everything that they can in their control to work their way back."
More must-reads: