Vikings being ‘overly cautious’ with rookie receiver Jordan Addison
After turning heads earlier this month during rookie minicamp, receiver Jordan Addison has spent all of organized team activities to this point watching from the sidelines. He’s dealing with an undisclosed injury right now, though coach Kevin O’Connell downplayed the severity of it on Tuesday after the Vikings wrapped up at TCO Performance Center.
“We’re being overly cautious with him right now,” O’Connell said. “Just something that popped up towards the tail end of rookie minicamp. Nothing serious at all.”
If this was the middle of the regular season, Addison, who the Vikings selected with the No. 23 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, would more than likely be playing through whatever pain he’s feeling. That said, there’s simply no reason for the 5-foot-11, 175-pound receiver to push things at the moment, especially with training camp right around the corner. Why risk worsening things during voluntary workouts?
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s kind of a day-to-day thing that we’re just working through,” O’Connell said. “It’s better to be safe with things knowing that training camp is really not all that far away. To give him the best possible chance to impact our team like I think he will this is the plan we’re going with.”
It’s unclear if this has anything to do with the ankle injury Addison suffered last fall at USC, which forced him to miss several late-season games, including the Cotton Bowl.
The good news for the Vikings is that Addison has already dived headfirst into the playbook. Thus, he’s continued to learn some of the intricacies, even if he hasn’t been able to apply it on the practice field.
“I’m staying humble and I’m going to keep working,” Addison said earlier this month. “Then when it’s my time to shine, I’m going to make sure I shine.”
The biggest thing Addison is losing in his absence is more reps with quarterback Kirk Cousins. In a perfect world for the Vikings, the two players would be developing chemistry with each other in the spring so they can hit the ground running in the summer.
“My big thing with him right now is there’s so much learning going on,” O’Connell said. “We’ve got big plans for him, obviously, and want to make sure, mentally, he’s in a great space, and, physically, he’s at his best when we allow him to truly go out there and turn it loose.”
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