Cook To Miss Remainder Of Season With Torn ACL
The Minnesota Vikings hope of making the playoffs was dealt a blow on Sunday when rookie running back Dalvin Cook tore his ACL during their game against the Detroit Lions.
The injury occurred during the third quarter when Cook made a cut to avoid being tackled by Detroit’s Tavon Wilson. Cook immediately grabbed his knee and fumbled the ball as he fell to the ground in pain.
The team had been hoping it wasn’t a serious injury, but there worst fears were realized when test results confirmed it was an ACL tear.
Cook, who was drafted to replace Adrian Peterson, who was released by the team in the offseason, was on pace to have over 400 rushing yards in four games, and provided the offense with balance as defenses started to game plan for him.
The team will turn to former Oakland Raider Latavius Murray, who was signed in the offseason, to take on the primary runner role. Murray, who has seen limited action this season because of Cook, is more than capable of handling the workload, and rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2015. Last season, he rushed for 788 yards in 14 games.
Murray, who is also recovering from offseason ankle surgery, had 21 yards on 7 carries on Thursday. Despite his ankle not being at 100 percent, Murray said he is ready to carry the workload.
“To be honest, I think I’m still getting to that point,” Murray said of his ankle getting back to 100 percent. “I think it’s not going to quite feel the same for a while. I knew that dealing with my previous ankle procedure.”
Cook is expected to undergo surgery to repair the torn ACL, but head coach Mike Zimmer said Cook will have to wait until the swelling in the knee goes down before he can undergo the surgery.
Zimmerman also didn’t rule out the possibility of the team signing another running back to give them more depth at the position.