Zimmer says Floyd 'had a little piece of cartilage taken out' of knee; timetable for return uncertain

Sharrif Floyd showed up in the locker room today with his left foot in a walking boot. Later, coach Mike Zimmer said the defensive tackle "had a little piece of cartilage taken out" … but didn't specify where. An NFL source has confirmed the cartilage was removed from Floyd's knee.

Zimmer also said he's unsure how long Floyd will be sideline, saying, "I don't know, honestly. I've heard all kinds of ranges."

Floyd missed Sunday's 28-19 victory at Detroit and didn't practice last week. He was injured during the Vikings' 16-10 victory over Kansas City in Week 6.

He wore a walking boot Monday at Winter Park, but wouldn't offer any details as to when he might return.

"I can't discuss the injury. Anything about [a timetable] is between coach Zimmer and my position coach," Floyd said. "I can't make that decision myself."

Floyd said he felt gimpy after the Week 6 victory, yet was surprised to learn it was much more than he had anticipated.

"Me not being a trainer, I felt like I was gimpy and obviously that wasn't the case and it came out a little different than I thought," he said. "Hard to swallow, but that's just how it came up."

Floyd said he wasn't sure when the injury occurred during the game and felt OK to play through it. He got the diagnosis when, "coming in after the game and making sure everything is good and finding out it's not."

He had nine tackles and one sack through six games, three of those tackles and half a sack recorded while likely playing on a bad leg against the Chiefs.