Vikings pre-camp injury updates on Christian Darrisaw, Will Fries, more

The Vikings placed a pair of injured rookies on the PUP list (physically unable to perform) on Monday. What was more notable about that news is who wasn't placed on the list. Offensive linemen Christian Darrisaw and Will Fries, who are both coming off of major season-ending leg injuries, remain on the active roster and will participate in some fashion when training camp begins on Wednesday.

"I wanna highlight the work they put in this summer to put themselves in a position to be out on the grass practicing, all in different capacities," head coach Kevin O'Connell said of Darrisaw, Fries, and wide receiver Rondale Moore on Tuesday. "We're very pleased with where those guys are at and their timelines to fully returning to daily participation. We have great plans on the calendar for those guys and cannot wait to see that come to fruition."

At minicamp in early June, Darrisaw was able to return to the practice field just 7.5 months after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in a game against the Rams last October. He took part in individual drills, which will remain the case early in camp. The Vikings are going to be very careful with their plan for their star left tackle, who has crushed his rehab but still has a ways to go.

"I would expect him to be a part of individual," O'Connell said. "We're obviously not in pads until Monday of next week, but we'll ramp up here with our work starting tomorrow. He'll be working through individual and then eventually he'll work into some of the combination periods, working across from some of our defensive players. And then we'd like to start progressing him to getting some work in the team periods. When that happens, the timeline will all be predicated on — basically, we have a plan in place, but have to be subject to adapt and adjust based on how he's responding."

Darrisaw's availability for the Vikings' regular season opener in just under seven weeks seems to still be very much up in the air. It'll all depend on how his knee responds and how quickly he's able to ramp up to full participation. If he can get to a place where he's feeling 100 percent and the team's medical staff believes he's at no elevated risk for re-injury, he'll have a chance to play in that game on September 8. If not — which is probably more likely — the Vikings can begin the year with veteran backup Justin Skule playing left tackle.

Fries is further along in his recovery from a tibial fracture, which he suffered in early October. He's been medically cleared and just needs to be built back up to football speed in a new offense.

"I would put Will in a different place," O'Connell said. "Will, he's cleared, he's ready to go, it's just a matter of ramping him up football-wise in our offensive system from a comfort standpoint, and then he'll assume a full allotment of reps here and we'll take a look at what that looks like as camp goes on."

The Vikings signed Fries to a five-year deal this spring to make him their starting right guard. The former Colts standout appears to be well on track to play in Week 1 in between center Ryan Kelly and right tackle Brian O'Neill.

Updates on the two rookies

As far as the players who did go on the PUP list, O'Connell said tight end Gavin Bartholomew has a lower back injury and outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss has a right foot injury. Of the two, Chambliss is "probably more in line with a return sooner rather than later," said O'Connell, who added that the Vikings "want to be smart with both those guys coming out of the summer break."

Bartholomew's absence could open the door for someone like undrafted rookie Ben Yurosek to win the TE3 job in Minnesota. Chambliss will hope to be back soon to compete for a roster spot at OLB.