Vikings-Lions Injuries & Playoff Ramifications Detailed
Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Let's start with the Vikings-Lions game
00:05 at the bank in Minneapolis, because I got to tell you,
00:09 I think this is going to be a hell of a football game.
00:13 No question about it.
00:14 Yet another great game on the schedule for week 16.
00:18 So these two teams play two out of their last three weeks,
00:21 so that's going to be interesting to see
00:22 what happens in the first of two.
00:24 Now, for the Lions, the visitor here,
00:26 couple of big entry notes.
00:28 So CJ Gardner-Chadsey, you might remember
00:29 he came over from Philly, where he could have led the NFL
00:33 in the interceptions had he not gotten hurt.
00:35 He had actually a serious injury.
00:37 He was headed for potential 10-plus interceptions.
00:39 So he signed a one-year deal for $6.5 million.
00:42 He got hurt very early on with a torn pectoral.
00:45 They didn't think he'd return, but he
00:47 started practicing this week.
00:49 He was not clear to return, so he won't play this week,
00:51 maybe next week.
00:52 But the other injury is Derek Barnes,
00:54 one of their starting inside lap records, will not play.
00:57 He's got a shoulder injury.
00:57 The key there is contact.
00:59 So that does worry you a little bit,
01:00 because Minnesota will run the football.
01:02 You saw what Chandler did, Ty Chandler did last week
01:05 in that rushing attack of well over 100 yards last week
01:09 in the loss at the Bengals.
01:10 But that's big.
01:11 And then for the Vikings, this is really big.
01:13 Their best cover corner, Byron Murphy
01:15 came over as a free agent from the Cardinals,
01:17 who could play inside or outside.
01:18 He's mostly an outside corner with them.
01:19 He is out with a knee injury.
01:21 That is bad for matchup purposes.
01:23 We've said forever this season, it's
01:26 not about talent with this football team on the back end,
01:29 with Brian Flores.
01:30 He's done a great job of overcoming the lack of talent.
01:32 And he's done a great job with his scheme.
01:35 But they're without their best corner.
01:36 This hurts, because the one thing Detroit has
01:39 is great offensive talent.
01:40 And what we've noticed lately is Jamison Williams
01:43 got a career high in snaps last week.
01:45 They're unleashing him.
01:47 You know how great Alman Ross St. Brown is.
01:48 Sam LaPorta setting all sorts of rookie year records
01:52 at the tight end position.
01:53 This is not good when they don't have Byron Murphy.
01:55 I'm going to be interested to see what Flores's approach is
01:58 here without number seven.
02:00 That is a rare quarterback number,
02:01 but that's the number that Byron Murphy wears,
02:03 but not this week.
02:04 Let me ask you a question about Gardner.
02:08 So he signed a one-year deal at $6.5 million.
02:11 Next week, it sounds like you're telling me he'll be viable.
02:15 And then he would be ready for the postseason.
02:21 And they're going to the playoffs.
02:23 So do you believe that since it was a one-year deal
02:28 and he missed the entire season, but he'll
02:30 play the last two games and a playoff game,
02:35 will they re-sign him or will he go somewhere else?
02:40 They sign him as a playmaker.
02:41 It depends once he gets cleared.
02:44 Again, this is his first week back in nearly three months.
02:46 He only played a couple of games earlier in the season
02:48 and then he got hurt.
02:50 But if he's a factor, they will look to re-sign him, yes.
02:53 But again, here's the problem for Gardner Johnson.
02:55 He turned down a three-year deal with the Eagles.
02:58 Because he only had a one-year stretcher, which
03:00 means you could get on it after one year
03:01 and not own the final two years.
03:03 He'd only played 50 one year for the Eagles.
03:06 He played in college at the University of Florida.
03:08 Was a slot corner with the Saints,
03:10 one of the best of the National Football League.
03:12 The problem is, got hurt two years ago,
03:16 last year, and this year.
03:17 You've got to stay on the field.
03:18 That's the problem for him.
03:19 But he's a terrific football player.
03:22 (upbeat music)
03:24 [BLANK_AUDIO]