Lewis Cine activated against the Bears on Monday night after 2022 first-round pick put in the work

While the Vikings have patched together a winning record in 2023, with major contributions from players who have hit the field days after arriving in Minnesota, the first player General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah drafted has continued to wait.

Lewis Cine was selected 32nd overall in 2022 and came to Minnesota as a source of intrigue after Adofo-Mensah completed a stunner of a trade with the Lions that moved the Vikings back 20 picks in the first round. Cine found himself buried on former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell's depth chart, though, and his rookie season ended in Week 4 with a compound fracture he sustained in his left leg on a special teams play in London.

Cine rehabbed the injury in time for training camp, while adjusting to his third defense in as many seasons after the Vikings replaced Donatell with Brian Flores, but players such as Josh Metellus became central figures in the defense before the season. Cine said his body is back to normal, but he needed preseason snaps for tasks like reacquainting himself with tackling after his gruesome injury.

He said he is on a "learning curve" in the Vikings defense, comparing his start in the NFL to his freshman season at Georgia, when he started only two games while learning the defense.

The hard work might have paid off, as Cine was activated before the start of Monday night's game against the Chicago Bears.

"Once I did learn the defense, I went out and never looked back," he said. "I feel like this is kind of a similar situation. You're a quarterback of the defense, so the room for mistakes is very small."

Cine, who had been inactive for seven games this season, said his relationships with Kevin O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah are in a "good place," adding both have been candid about what they want to see from him and patient with his development.

"I see who I'm behind. I'm working," he said. "I know I haven't been up [on the active roster for games] and whatnot, but I know my time is coming.

"I've learned a lot about myself. I hate comparing myself to other players, but I know how some players handle certain situations like this. I've been around enough to see it, and I've handled it completely differently. Yeah, I'm not playing, but I'm still cheering for my teammates, still showing them love while sharpening my craft."

Cine said the Vikings have told him returning from his injury as quickly as he did "is a great feat within itself because certain players don't come back the same from something like that." He's hoping the time spent refining his game will pay off when he gets a chance to play.

"Just sharpen the things you've got to sharpen up, and when your time comes, just run with it," he said.