Working on what might been have been his best game wearing a Minnesota Vikings jersey, rookie running back Dalvin Cook injured his left knee and subsequently fumbled during a third-quarter carry.
Cook, who had 66 yards and a touchdown at the time, limped off the field with Vikings trainers, the Lions marched down and scored a go-ahead touchdown, and the wheels started falling off the Minnesota offense, which didn’t produce another point in a 14-7 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Head coach Mike Zimmer said the Vikings are worried about Cook’s ACL. The running back’s left knee buckled without contact during a 10-yard run. He immediately clutched his knee and lost his grip on the ball, which was jarred free by Tavon Wilson.
Cook walked off the field under his own power and returned to the sideline in street clothes during the fourth quarter. He was seen with a leg brace and crutches in the Vikings locker room after the game.
“I told him he’s not the first great running back to have an ACL, if it is one, and come back pretty good,” said Zimmer, referring to Adrian Peterson’s 2012 season. “Dalvin will have a great career.”
The loss of Cook was the worst of myriad second-half issues for the Vikings.
Prior to the injury, Jerick McKinnon fumbled a zone-read handoff to Cook out of the Wildcat formation that Detroit recovered and turned into a field goal. Trae Waynes dropped a possible interception in the end zone that would have prevented the Lions from taking the lead. Kai Forbath hit the right upright on a 39-yard field goal attempt.
And that was just the third quarter.
Minnesota had a chance to tie the game late with a touchdown, facing a third and goal from the 3-yard line. Keenum faced pressure with an empty set and was sacked by an unblocked Anthony Zettel for a loss of 11 yards. Zimmer said Keenum should have thrown the ball sooner against the Lions’ zero blitz.
“That was totally on me,” said Keenum. “I thought I saw something and got fooled, and I changed the protection to the wrong protection. That’s a huge play in the game obviously, and that’s one I want back.”
Keenum’s pass on fourth down was incomplete to give the ball back to Detroit. The Vikings had a final chance with under two minutes remaining, but Adam Thielen fumbled in Lions territory following a first-down catch — the Vikings’ third turnover of the afternoon.
It was just that kind of day for Minnesota, which fell to 2-2, one game back of Detroit and the Green Bay Packers for the NFC North lead.
If Cook is out for the remainder of the season, it will cut short a rookie campaign that was on pace to be more prolific than Adrian Peterson’s rookie season of 2007. Cook had the most yards through three games of any Vikings rookie running back, and he was posting his highest yards-per-carry average of the season at the time of his injury.
Latavius Murray took Cook’s place as the lead back but generated just 21 yards on seven carries. He’ll be leaned upon heavily in Cook’s absence after signing with the Vikings as a free agent.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself, and I believe the coaches have the confidence in me that I can catch the ball, run the ball, block, run the offense, do all the things we’ve been doing,” said Murray.
The Vikings offense was held to fewer than 10 points for the second time in three games under Keenum — a far cry from their 34-point explosion in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Strangely, Minnesota outgained Detroit 284-251 but possessed the ball for nearly 13 fewer minutes.
The Vikings were 3 of 10 on third downs and had just one conversion until midway through the fourth quarter.
“We’ve got to be better on third down,” said Keenum. “We’ve got to be better in crucial situations.”
Minnesota will get an extra day to prepare for the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football next week, but they may be without their top running back, as well as starting quarterback Sam Bradford.
Per usual, the Vikings are facing adversity under Zimmer.
“Unfortunately,” said the fourth-year coach, “I’m getting used to it.”
