The Minnesota Vikings are extremely heavy favorites heading into their Week 3 matchup with the lowly Buffalo Bills, but they'll be shorthanded when they take the field. Coach Mike Zimmer announced on Friday that both running back Dalvin Cook and defensive end Everson Griffen will not play in the game.
Dalvin Cook and Everson Griffen are both out for Sunday, Mike Zimmer said.
— Ben Goessling (@GoesslingStrib) September 21, 2018
Cook sustained a hamstring injury during last week's game and has only done work to the side of practice throughout this week. He'll be replaced in the lineup by Latavius Murray, who carried most of the load last year after Cook tore his ACL. He split work with Jerick McKinnon last season and will likely be trusted to handle things on his own for the most part this year, now that McKinnon is both in San Francisco and out for the year with a torn ACL of his own.
Griffen, meanwhile, was held out of practice entirely all week with a knee injury. He's been productive with a sack and two tackles for loss across the first two games of the year but the Vikes will have to do without him this weekend. Minnesota still has a whole bunch of talent along the defensive line and should be mostly fine against a middling Bills offense even without Griffen, but it's never a good sign when one of your best pass rushers misses an entire week of practice and then a game with an injury to his knee.
The Vikings have much more difficult games against the Rams and Eagles looming in Weeks 4 and 5, so it's possible they're just getting two of their most important players an extra bit of rest during what should be a soft matchup and probable victory.
