Vikings rookie wide receiver Blake Proehl will undergo surgery and miss the entire 2021 season after suffering a significant knee injury during Wednesday's practice.
Proehl's right knee buckled in non-contact fashion during a one-on-one drill early in the joint practice with the Broncos. Trainers immediately attended to him and he was eventually carted off the field while appearing to be in serious pain.
Although the Vikings haven't placed Proehl on injured reserve yet, the East Carolina product confirmed the severity of his injury with a post on Instagram Wednesday night.
"Sometimes God allows things to happen in your life because you were built to withstand the storm," Proehl wrote. "I have put everything I have into this game. Every ounce of love and passion has been poured into my craft and my goals, but I understand that there are times like these that shine brighter for his greater purpose. I hope that my story will inspire others and show that anything is possible. Road to recovery starts now. Skol."
Several Vikings receivers, including Adam Thielen, wished him well in the comments of the post. "Gonna be a heck of a comeback story! Keep the faith," Thielen, himself a former UDFA, wrote.
Proehl had been having a strong training camp for an undrafted rookie prior to the injury, positioning himself to at least make the practice squad and giving himself an outside shot at cracking the 53-man roster ahead of preseason action.
He received more guaranteed money ($115,000) than any other Vikings UDFA this year, which tells you the team was high on his potential.
The Vikings have now lost two receivers to season-ending knee injuries during training camp, with Proehl joining Bisi Johnson in that unfortunate group. With Justin Jefferson and Dede Westbrook also dealing with injuries, the Vikings are down to eight receivers for Thursday's practice. One of them, Warren Jackson, was just signed off the street earlier this week, and half of the eight (Jackson, Dan Chisena, Myron Mitchell, Whop Philyor) are undrafted rookies from either 2021 or 2020.
This injury will likely give Proehl a chance to stick around on IR all year and get another chance to make the team next season. The same thing happened to 2020 seventh-rounder Kenny Willekes and UDFA Myles Dorn last season.
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