The Minnesota Vikings suffered a major loss in their very first training camp session of the year, as cornerback Mekhi Blackmon tore his ACL, per NFL Media. Alec Lewis of The Athletic noted that Blackmon was "down for a while" after suffering the injury, but eventually limped back to the locker room. Now, he will likely miss the entire 2024 season.
The 25-year-old Blackmon was selected by Minnesota in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of USC after being named First Team All-Pac-12 in his lone season with the Trojans. He played in 15 games with three official starts in his rookie season, and recorded 41 combined tackles, eight passes defensed and one interception.
This is an incredibly unfortunate development for a team and a position group that is still reeling from the tragic loss of rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson, who was killed in a car accident earlier this month.
The Vikings did sign cornerback Shaquill Griffin to a one-year contract earlier this offseason, but general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah may be in the market for a new cornerback.