Thielen misses practice with hamstring injury, Zimmer says 'he's getting really close'

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen (19) grimaces in pain after making a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions in Detroit, Michigan USA, on Sunday, October 20, 2019 (Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto v (Getty Images)

The Minnesota Vikings host the Detroit Lions on Sunday in the first of four pivotal games to end the regular season as they chase a spot in the NFC Playoffs, and the status of Adam Thielen continues to be a question mark.

Thielen did not practice Thursday as he continues recovery from a nagging hamstring injury. He went through a single individual drill during the session open to media at TCO Performance Center before standing and watching his teammates prepare for the Lions.

Zimmer said Thursday that Thielen is close to returning, and didn’t rule out that he could play Sunday.

“I think he’s getting really close, but there’s really no sense to push it like today, there’s no sense to push it. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” Zimmer said.

Thielen hasn’t played a full game since the Vikings’ 38-20 win at Philadelphia on Oct. 13, where he had six catches on eight targets for 57 yards and a touchdown. He originally hurt his hamstring catching a touchdown from Kirk Cousins in the first quarter of Minnesota’s 42-30 win at Detroit in Week 7.

He did not return to that game, and tried to play the next week at Kansas City. He was on the field for the first offensive series and had a pass from Cousins go behind him. He re-aggravated the injury during the game and didn’t return after the Vikings’ second offensive series.

He has not played in a game since, and the hope was Thielen would be back after the bye week to play against Seattle after he had returned to practice. Zimmer said Wednesday there hasn’t been a setback, he’ll play when he’s ready.

“He’s frustrated, I think he’s going to get an opportunity this week so we’ll see. He’s working real hard and he obviously wants to get out there with his guys. He’s a great competitor, he loves to compete. It is what it is,” Zimmer said. “It doesn’t do us any good to think about what if or anything like that. When he’s ready, he’s ready, he’ll get in there and he’ll play. If he’s not ready, he won’t play.”

Thielen has had multiple MRIs since he injured the hamstring the first time. Players want to play, and Zimmer said it comes down to trusting them when they say they’re healthy.

“At the end of the day, you have to trust the player. If the MRI looks pretty good, you trust the player. If the player says he can play, then you let him play. And that’s kind of what happened a few weeks ago (in Kansas City),” Zimmer said. “MRI looked good, player said he could play, started to play and then he couldn’t end up playing. So we’re being cautious with it.”

The Vikings will need their top receiver fully healthy, whenever that time comes, as they continue to battle for the NFC North Division title and a playoff spot. Thielen has 27 catches and six touchdowns this season. Last year, he put himself in the franchise record books by starting the season with eight straight 100-yard receiving games.

While Thielen’s status remains up in the air, Dalvin Cook’s does not. Zimmer said he expects his top running back to be near 100 percent and to play Sunday.

Cook, who exited Minnesota’s loss at Seattle on Monday with a chest injury after fumbling in the third quarter and didn’t return, was a limited participant in practice on Thursday. He went straight to the locker room after the injury at Seattle, and when he came back to the sideline, he could be seen telling teammates, “It’s not that bad.”

“I’ll be out there on Sunday. I feel good, actually better than I expected. I’ll definitely be out there on Sunday, ready to get a W,” Cook said Wednesday.

Cook is one of the top running backs in the NFL, with 1,046 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s become a valuable asset in the passing game, mostly in screens, with 490 yards on 48 catches. He’s second on the team in receiving behind Stefon Diggs, and is averaging 10.2 yards per catch.

If Cook either can’t play or has his snaps reduced, it likely means a bigger load for rookie Alexander Mattison. He had a career-high four catches for 51 yards after Cook’s exit on Monday. He has 416 rushing yards on the season as the No. 2 running back behind Cook, and is averaging 4.8 yards per carry.

“I have confidence in Alex, no reason not to. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He obviously knows how to run the football, but we’ll ask him to be a receiver, we’ll ask him to do things in pass protection, we expect him to handle that,” Cousins said.

The coaching staff is equally confident in Mattison if they reduce the snaps for Cook. There won’t be a drop-off, it’s not an option.

“It can’t be much. We don’t look at it like that. We look at it as our backups know the game plan cold and they’re ready to go” offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski said. “Are they the same player as a Dalvin Cook? No. We understand that, but we’re not going to limit ourselves and what we can do without any one of our players.”

Riley Reiff didn’t practice Thursday after suffering a concussion Monday night. Everson Griffen and Shamar Stephen were both limited with knee injuries.