Vikings kicker Greg Joseph named NFC special teams player of the week; 'it's a team award,' he says

A stellar first month for the Vikings' special teams units ended with kicker Greg Joseph being named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week three days after making all five of his field-goal attempts in Sunday's 28-25 win over the Saints in London.

"I appreciate all the well wishes, but I think it's a team award," Joseph said. "Credit Kirk [Cousins] and the offense for getting us down there. Credit the big boys up front and the snap and the hold."

The Vikings went 2-for-5 in the red zone and settled for field goals after a successful fake punt conversion pass from Ryan Wright to Jalen Nailor, and a strip and recovery by Kris Boyd on punt coverage.

Joseph, the first Vikings kicker to win the award since Dan Bailey in 2019, missed a PAT to keep the Saints within a field goal but atoned for it with the game-deciding 47-yard field goal with 24 seconds left.

"That was a big kick, and I was locked in for that moment," Joseph said. "Nothing changes for me. That's just me doing my job."

Teammates got to see and sing happy birthday to injured rookie first-round draft pick Lewis Cine via Zoom during Wednesday's team meeting. Cine, who turned 23 Wednesday, remains in London recovering from surgery for a broken leg suffered in Sunday's game.

"It was emotional because it was the first time seeing him since it happened," said safety and special teams leader Josh Metellus. "It was good to see him smile. We just wanted to let him know we're here for him from across the pond.

"Seeing the smile on his face after what happened to him just livens us up more. Just knowing a guy can go through that and still want to know how we're doing and congratulating us on the win. It was a good team win. It took everybody, including him."

Head coach Kevin O'Connell said the team expects Cine to make a full recovery following the operation to repair a compound fracture.

"Just the tissue around where the fracture was and the fact we've been able to kind of limit any of the post-injury damage that can sometimes take place with an open wound like that, I know they feel great about the work that was done," O'Connell said, "and what they were able to do with the surgery. You never really truly know until you go in and start repairing an injury like that."

The Vikings' sleep experts might have overlooked a 6-foot-5, 315-pound obstacle when it came to getting some shut-eye on the flight to London: Left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who was outed Wednesday as a big-time snorer by his quarterback.

"He was a seat behind me and on the way to London and he was sawing logs and it was hard for me to sleep," Cousins said. "We landed in London and Za'Darius [Smith] goes, 'CD, I thought that was the plane! That was you?!' And I said, 'Yeah, Z, I'm one seat away from him, I barely slept.'"

Somehow, Cousins lifted Darrisaw's bling, a chain necklace, on the way over.

"Honestly, it was very empowering," Cousins said. "It felt pretty good to have that chain on. His is 'C.D.,' literally on the chain, and it spins."

Team player that he is, Darrisaw made some sleep adjustments that made for a quieter flight home.

"I gave him his flowers on the way back," running back Dalvin Cook said. "I told him he was good on the way back. I thought [his snoring on the way over] was a prank, to be honest. I thought it was a prank. But everybody was like, 'That was CD!' I was like, 'No way possible.'

"I think he slept on his side instead of sleeping on his back [on the way home], so that made everything better for us as a whole. He got good sleep. That was good for him. We got our sleep. That was good for us."

Rookie cornerback Andrew Booth Jr., who has been sidelined since exiting the first game of the season in the second quarter, returned to practice Wednesday. He was listed as limited with a quad injury. Meanwhile, linebacker Za'Darius Smith, who played Sunday despite being listed as questionable with a knee injury, was also limited. The only other player on Wednesday's injury report was cornerback Cameron Dantzler, who had full participation despite a hip injury.

Four Bears players did not practice: running back David Montgomery (ankle), safety Dane Cruikshank (hamstring), cornerback Jaylon Johnson (quad) and cornerback Jaylon Jones (illness). Linebacker Matthew Adams (hamstring) and tight end Ryan Griffen (Achilles) were limited.

Staff writer Andrew Krammer contributed reporting.