Vikings head to Tennessee healthy while Titans face big holes in lineup

The Vikings are heading into the Titans game Sunday with their full roster intact.

The only player they ruled out is edge rusher Gabe Murphy, who is still in his 21-day practice window while remaining on injured reserve because of his knee injury. When Murphy returns, he could find a role on defense, but coach Kevin O’Connell said the Vikings “are not going to activate him quite yet.”

“He’s doing really well, right on schedule where we wanted him at this time,” O’Connell said. “He’ll keep working in preparation of being added to the roster at some point during this window.”

No other Vikings player carries an injury designation into the game. Running back Aaron Jones, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and tight end Josh Oliver were all full participants in Friday’s practice after being limited on Thursday because of injuries.

The Titans ruled out right tackle Leroy Watson because of a back injury and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed because of the quadriceps injury that’s kept him out since Oct. 13. Third-year man Nicholas Petit-Frere is expected to start in Watson’s place at right tackle for a team that’s already given up 28 sacks this season.

O’Connell said kicker Will Reichard and long snapper Andrew DePaola are doing well in their recoveries from injuries: a quadriceps strain for Reichard and a hand injury for DePaola that required surgery. O’Connell did not know yet, however, if both will be ready to return from injured reserve as soon as they’re able for the Dec. 8 game against the Falcons.

“With Will, it’s just about progressing through that soft tissue [injury] to a point where he can start getting back to his kicking routine, get in front of the team a little bit kicking again,” O’Connell said. “But with that said, the more time I spend around [Parker Romo], we’re lucky to have him. He had a really good day yesterday, kicking outside in a little bit of the elements we’re playing in [on Sunday]. So I’ve got a lot of confidence in Parker to continue being great for us.”

The Vikings’ Dec. 1 game against the Cardinals could be a candidate to move to Monday night as part of the NFL’s flexible scheduling process.

The league has flexible scheduling rights for Monday night games after Week 12, and it seemed plausible the Browns-Broncos game, a matchup of middling teams currently scheduled for Dec. 2, could be moved to Sunday. ESPN Monday night color commentator Troy Aikman said in an October appearance on the “Pardon My Take” podcast that the Cleveland-Denver game could be moved.

Philadelphia (8-2) plays Baltimore (7-3) that Sunday, but the game is scheduled for the late afternoon national slot on CBS. The Chargers-Falcons game and the Cardinals-Vikings game are the only other matchups that week between two teams with winning records. Both games are slated for noon kickoffs on Sunday. The NFL would have to decide by Tuesday if it will change the schedule for the Monday night game in Week 13.

The league moved one game from Sunday to Monday after adding Monday night flex scheduling in 2023, replacing a Week 15 Chiefs-Patriots game with an Eagles-Seahawks matchup.

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