Vikings receiver Bisi Johnson tears ACL, will be sidelined for second straight season

Though the Vikings' cautious approach with their starters kept their roster in good health before the start of the regular season, they couldn't escape their preseason finale without at least one major injury.

After coach Kevin O'Connell said Saturday night he was worried about the knee injury Bisi Johnson suffered on a special teams play, a magnetic resonance imaging exam Sunday showed the wide receiver tore his anterior cruciate ligament and will be out for the season. Johnson has now torn ACLs in both of his knees in back-to-back seasons; he spent the 2021 season rehabbing from knee surgery after getting injured on a practice drill early in training camp.

"It's unfortunate, because he's had a really good training camp and done everything we've asked of him in multiple spots," O'Connell said after the game on Saturday night. "He's earned a right, in my opinion, to be on our football team. If it comes down to him physically being unable to play, we'll love him up and make sure that whenever we can get him healthy he'll be back ready to go."

Johnson, a seventh-round pick in 2019, caught 31 passes as a rookie. He had caught just 14 balls in 2020, and was trying to regain a larger role on the team when he was injured last season. It appeared he would be one of the receivers on the Vikings' 53-man roster after final cuts on Tuesday; instead, the Lakewood, Colo., native will spend the last season of his rookie deal recovering from surgery after getting injured in his home state on Saturday night.

Defensive lineman T.Y. McGill, who'd posted 3½ sacks in the Vikings' first two preseason games, sprained his right ankle and could miss one or two weeks, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The 29-year-old is battling for a spot on the Vikings' 53-man roster after an impressive preseason, and could be ready for the team's regular-season opener against Green Bay on Sept. 11 if he recovers quickly from the ankle injury.

Linebacker Troy Dye, who played Saturday night after getting stepped on in the Vikings' scrimmage on Thursday, wasn't able to get through the game with a foot bruise on Saturday night. A source said, however, that the injury isn't expected to affect Dye's status for the start of the regular season.

"I give Troy a lot of credit for going tonight, knowing that we would be down numbers-wise, especially at that [linebacker] position," O'Connell said after the Vikings' loss to the Broncos on Saturday.

O'Connell also said after the game on Saturday that wide receiver Jalen Nailor was evaluated for a concussion. The rookie was scheduled to come out of the game around the time he was injured, O'Connell said, adding, "We'll see where he's at" with the injury.