Vikings lose cornerback Stephon Gilmore to hamstring strain; Byron Murphy Jr. gets his ‘robbery’

Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore strained his left hamstring in the second quarter of Sunday’s 23-22 win over the Cardinals and did not return.

Gilmore, the 34-year-old veteran, declined comment after the game. Coach Kevin O’Connell said there’s optimism that Gilmore’s injury won’t be like the hamstring strain that just landed linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. on injured reserve with a minimum four-game absence.

“I’m hoping we avoided a longer-term issue there,” O’Connell said. “He was thinking about possibly coming back in, but able to hold onto the win there.”

Gilmore’s replacement, cornerback Fabian Moreau, became a favorite target for Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, who threw a 15-yard touchdown to receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. over Moreau in the third quarter. Moreau was also flagged twice for pass interference on third downs.

Moreau got the last laugh with a Vikings win and by deflecting one of the last passes thrown his way toward Harrison in the fourth quarter. The Vikings also leaned more on cornerback Shaq Griffin, who had the game-sealing interception.

Many Vikings defensive backs were feeling the fatigue after Murray threw 45 passes and took only one sack, all while they played more man-to-man coverage that required them to chase receivers all over the field.

“When he’s able to get out of the pocket, that’s where things got tough on us,” safety Camryn Bynum said. “Everybody still did their jobs, but it was one of those games where we had to run a lot. When Fabian came in, we knew the type of players we have on our defense, so whoever goes in there we know they’re capable of playing. He showed what he can do.”

Safety Harrison Smith played his 188th regular-season game for the Vikings on Sunday, tying him with receiver Cris Carter and offensive lineman Tim Irwin for 10th most in franchise history.

Smith, who had not missed a defensive snap since the Week 3 win over Houston, was pulled from the game at the end of the first half.

The former All-Pro safety said that he wasn’t injured, but that he had rare rest built into the game plan. Safety Theo Jackson replaced him briefly.

“I even told my wife before, ‘If I’m not in the game, I’m not hurt,’” Smith said. “That was planned to take some snaps off.”

Edge rusher Pat Jones II was evaluated briefly for a right knee injury, but he finished the game.

Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. dressed for revenge, wearing a ski mask under his helmet throughout Sunday’s game despite playing indoors. That’s because he had revenge, or theft, on his mind against his former team.

“It’s because I was gonna steal one today,” Murphy said. “Robbery.”

Murphy picked off Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray early in the fourth quarter at the Vikings’ 32-yard line on a pass Murray tried to throw away under pressure. The Vikings trailed 19-13 at the time, and the offense went down to score a field goal on the ensuing drive.

After four seasons, the Cardinals let Murphy leave to the Vikings in 2023 free agency. Murphy, who was drafted a round after Murray in 2019, said he did not see the quarterback postgame to thank him for his career-high fifth interception of the season.

“I definitely would’ve said that though, for sure,” said Murphy, who also batted away two other Murray throws in the second half.

Quarterback Sam Darnold said the connection he made with receiver Justin Jefferson on fourth-and-5 in the fourth quarter was “really very similar” to how the pair executed the play in Thursday’s practice. The 12-yard catch kept alive what ended up being the game-winning drive capped by Aaron Jones’ touchdown grab.

Jefferson said he was “pretty excited” to see the play call come in and knew he’d have a good chance at being open based on the Cardinals coverages.

“Same thing in practice just finding the soft spot in the zone,” Darnold said. “They brought really good pressure on that play as well, but I was able to get the ball out and convert. It was a huge play obviously by ‘Jets’ – really by all 11 – to be able to execute on that fourth down.”

Guard Ed Ingram, a 2022 second-round pick, went from losing his starting spot to being a healthy scratch against the Cardinals. Ingram was deactivated because left tackle Cam Robinson was playing through a right foot injury that had knocked him out of the previous game in Chicago during the first quarter.

The Vikings activated an extra backup tackle, rookie Walter Rouse, and to make room they ended up activating Dan Feeney, who plays guard and center, and deactivated Ingram, a guard, and backup center Michael Jurgens.

“[Robinson] was going to give it a go, but we wanted to make sure,” O’Connell said. “We felt stressed in Chicago, having only one tackle [David Quessenberry] for the game beyond Cam.”

How good is the NFC North?

For the first time in its 57-year history, even back when it was the five-team NFC Central, every team has a positive point differential through 12 games, according to Pro Football Reference. Even the 4-8 Chicago Bears (+1) and recently fired coach Matt Eberflus have scored more than their opponents so far. This has happened only one other time during the past eight NFL seasons: the 2022 AFC East.

Star Tribune writer Emily Leiker contributed to this report.