| CB Chris Cook, who battled Cards' Larry Fitzgerald in October, may finally be recovered from a broken arm. (US Presswire) |
Vikings CB Chris Cook has been trying to work his way back into the lineup after breaking his forearm and being placed on designated for return injured reserve six weeks ago. On Thursday, coach Leslie Frazier said Cook is doing well at practice and is close, but Frazier isn’t ready to say for certain how much Cook will play on Sunday.
“He’s made a lot of progress from last week to this week; we’ll see how he does [Friday],” Frazier said. “It looks like he is heading in the right direction. It’s just a matter of how much can we play him. I just want to see a couple things [Friday] just for all of us to feel settled that he’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
Frazier said they can make a roster move on Friday or Saturday and still have him eligible for Sunday. But before he does that, Frazier wants to see a little more from his third-year corner.
“They’ve cleared him [to play], so it’s a matter of him being confident to tackle," Frazier said. “We won’t know that until he actually does tackle -- and we can’t do it in practice. They cleared him for contact. Now it’s just a matter if he is mentally feeling comfortable doing it.”
Fusco gets ready for high Watt-age: RG Brandon Fusco received a bit of media attention this week for saying that if you can handle Texans premiere TE J.J. Watt, you can make a name for yourself in the league. He said it was misconstrued as he was calling Watt out. Fusco knows better than that. He knows it's a monumental challenge to block Watt.
“I got the scouting report this week for J.J. Watt, so I have been in and out of the film room,” Fusco said. “I’ve spent tons of time just watching every move he makes, watching his tendencies. I’ve got to [bring] my A-game and play the best game of my life and be ready for him.”
Injury report: RB Adrian Peterson (abdomen/groin) was held out of practice on Thursday so he could rest. CB Antoine Winfield (knee) was limited, as he has been all season. LT Matt Kalil did not participate for a second day due to an illness.
DE Brian Robison has a sprain in the acromioclavicular (AC) joint in his shoulder, and he didn’t practice either.
“All those guys will go [Friday], except Brian,” said Frazier. “We’ll know more about Brian on [Friday]. We’re just still not sure. We’ve had one or two guys [with that injury] who are able to [return in a week], but everybody’s different.”
DE Jared Allen (shoulder), P Chris Kluwe (left knee, groin), RT Phil Loadholt (knee) and S Mistral Raymond (ankle) all had limited participation in practice. DE Everson Griffen (elbow) and CB/KR Marcus Sherels (quadriceps, elbow) both participated fully in practice.
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