Vikings expect center Garrett Bradbury to start playoff game vs. the Giants

The Vikings will have their starting center back for Sunday's NFC first-round playoff game against the New York Giants, while two members of their secondary are listed as questionable for the contest at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Coach Kevin O'Connell on Friday said center Garrett Bradbury, who has missed the past five games because of a back injury, will start against the Giants after progressing during practice this week. The key test came Thursday when Bradbury was a full participant in a fully padded practice and had no setbacks.

"Bradbury's a full go,'' O'Connell said. "He practiced fully and demonstrated a complete readiness to play this week. Having Garrett back in there, he's been huge for us all season long.''

Safety Harrison Smith, who missed the regular-season finale at Chicago because of a knee injury, was a limited participant in practice for the third consecutive day. O'Connell, though, sounded hopeful that Smith will return to the lineup.

"I don't have any reason to believe Harry wouldn't be there, but he'll go in questionable just in case, and we'll see how he turns over from some good work today,'' O'Connell said. "We'll be excited to get Harry back out there.''

Cornerback Cameron Dantzler missed practice for the third consecutive day because of a personal matter and is listed as questionable.

"He's been keeping tabs on the game plan, being part of meetings when he can, virtually, but he's dealing with something pretty serious,'' O'Connell said. "We're in full support of Cam, and hopefully we can get him here either today or tomorrow.''

The only other Viking on the injury report is running back/kick returner Kene Nwangwu, who is questionable because of an illness. "He's doing a little bit better today,'' O'Connell said.

The return of Bradbury, a fourth-year pro, should give the Vikings offensive line a lift against the Giants, who feature a defensive line led by Dexter Lawrence, who has 7.5 sacks from an interior position.

"It's a huge, huge boost having him back," left tackle Christian Darrisaw said. "The caliber of player he is, that's huge for us as a unit."

Left guard Ezra Cleveland concurred.

"We're together almost every single day,'' he said. "When he was hurt, I was checking in on him in the training room every single day, making sure he's doing good.''

Bradbury felt good after going through the rigors of Thursday's practice.

"You've gotta play football,'' he said. "It's not pushing sleds and running. It was good to be back out there with the guys. … I feel great. The training room did an awesome job.''

Bradbury described his rehab as "a lot of core work,'' then joked, "I was hoping to have a six-pack right now, but I don't.''

Along with the return of Bradbury, tackle Blake Brandel practiced for the third consecutive day after missing four games because of a knee injury. "It was good to test it out, and it felt good,'' Brandel said. "It's awesome to be back.''

Brandel worked at both tackle positions, and it's not automatic that he'll replace Oli Udoh as starter at right tackle. Udoh filled in when right tackle Brian O'Neill was lost for the season to an Achilles tendon injury on Jan. 1 at Green Bay and started the finale against the Bears.

"[Brandel] got some reps at some different spots, and he showed he's ready to go full,'' O'Connell said. "We're going to figure out that full five.''

While O'Connell helped coach the Rams to the Super Bowl title last year, he'll make his playoff debut as a head coach on Sunday. He didn't sound worried Friday.

"I don't necessarily feel like a rookie, but I'll let other people decide when I get to drop that tag — kind of like I had to do as a rookie player,'' he said.