Vikings lose left tackle Darrisaw to concussion; won’t play Thursday

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell opened Sunday's postgame news conference by announcing that left tackle Christian Darrisaw will not play against the Patriots on Thursday night after suffering a second concussion in as many games.

"We're going to be extra cautious with him moving forward," O'Connell said after the 40-3 loss to the Cowboys at U.S. Bank Stadium.

"My concern is just about CD. He'll be in the protocol like he was last week. He checked all those boxes going into [Sunday]. This is one of our best players, and we want him to have a long future."

Darrisaw had a rough day, giving up a strip-sack turnover to Micah Parsons on the game's third snap and another third-down sack to Dorance Armstrong early in the second quarter.

It was on that second sack that Darrisaw suffered the concussion, O'Connell said. A week earlier at Buffalo, Darrisaw played only 53% of the snaps before leaving with a concussion.

Darrisaw was listed on the team's injury report as not practicing Wednesday, being limited Thursday and having full participation Friday. The Vikings didn't give him an injury designation at the end of the week.

O'Connell said there was no chance the team's medical staff missed anything with Darrisaw.

"He went through the whole protocol as is and everything was done, medically speaking, in the best interests of CD, and he was ready to go tonight," O'Connell said. "There was actually an impact to his helmet, his head and neck area that caused him to be pulled out of the game."

The only other injury O'Connell reported was a stinger to defensive lineman Ross Blacklock. Left guard Ezra Cleveland left the game in the second half, but O'Connell said it was nothing serious.

Brandel: 'On to the next game'

Blake Brandel was lauded a week earlier for how well he filled in for Darrisaw. Sunday was a different story. He, too, gave up two sacks, one to Parsons and one to DeMarcus Lawrence, many pressures, and also had a false start penalty.

"They got a good front, and we just didn't step up to what we needed to do today," Brandel said. "I didn't play good enough. Just on to the next game."

The Vikings gave up seven sacks — six of them against a four-man rush — and 13 quarterback hits. Kirk Cousins took all seven sacks before sitting out the fourth quarter. Nick Mullens finished the game.

Austin Schlottmann, who had played just two snaps on offense all season, replaced Cleveland during the second half. He false-started on his first snap Sunday. Cleveland is expected to start against the Patriots. Brandel could be replaced, but O'Connell made that sound unlikely based on the quick turnaround for a Thursday night game.

Things won't get any easier. Patriots edge rusher Matthew Judon leads the NFL with 13 sacks after getting 1 ½ sacks in Sunday's victory over the Jets.

Booth tested in first start

Second-round pick Andrew Booth Jr. made his first career start in place of his fellow rookie cornerback Akayleb Evans and got tested early by Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott.

"I was definitely expecting that," said Booth, who recorded a team-high nine tackles.

Unofficially, Booth was targeted seven times in man coverage and allowed six receptions for 78 yards. He also was called for an illegal contact penalty that was declined.

Prescott threw at Booth three times on Dallas' second possession, completing all three passes for 28 yards. Booth missed a tackle on a screen pass to CeeDee Lamb that aided a 6-yard completion.

Booth got caught on a double move on a 35-yard catch by Noah Brown in the third quarter. Booth tackled Brown at the 1. O'Connell challenged the ruling of a catch as Brown lost control of the ball when he hit the turf, but the call stood.

"I'll get better," Booth said. "I was able to get a little comfortable out there with more snaps."

Evans suffered a concussion last week against Buffalo and is still in the league protocol.

No emotional hangover

After the Vikings came back from a 27-10 deficit to win in overtime in Buffalo last week, they took the second-worst home loss in franchise history against the Cowboys on Sunday.

O'Connell said he was unsure whether the Bills game left the Vikings fatigued, adding they had a good week of preparation after the Bills game. Afterward, players said if there was any emotional hangover from the win in Buffalo, it couldn't be used as an excuse.

"Nobody feels sorry for us," right tackle Brian O'Neill said. "It's our own fault, and it's going to be hard to turn around in four days and do it again. But I think this group's up to the challenge. Nobody's going to flinch, nobody's going to blink, and we've got to come out better than we did today."

Staff writers Chip Scoggins and Ben Goessling contributed to this report.