OL Woes Mounting as Vikings' Brian O'Neill, Austin Schlottmann Have 'Significant' Injuries

Injuries are starting to mount on the Vikings' offensive line, which is a big concern with the playoffs right around the corner. Center Austin Schlottmann and right tackle Brian O'Neill went down in the first quarter of Sunday's loss to the Packers, and both suffered what head coach Kevin O'Connell described as "significant" injuries.

"We’re still going through the medical evaluation process and ultimately what those timelines look like, but we won’t have either of those players this week," O'Connell said.

Schlottmann fractured his left fibula, which will presumably end his season. O'Neill hurt his calf while trying to sprint back on the Packers' pick-six. The exact details of O'Neill's situation aren't yet known, but his availability for the first round of the playoffs and beyond is in serious question.

Making matters worse is that the Vikings were already banged up on the offensive line before Sunday. Schlottmann was playing because starter Garrett Bradbury continues to deal with a lingering back injury. There's still no timetable for Bradbury's return, but O'Connell hopes to get him back at some point before the season is over.

"I know he is progressing and feeling better and better," O'Connell said. "My hope is at some point, we can get him some real practice reps and really see how that thing responds. There’s only so much from a rehab standpoint they can do before we have to actually test what it feels like for him to play football. The hope is we’ll have him back — can’t really put a timetable on that as far as this week or next, but there is hope there."

Veteran Chris Reed, who is primarily a guard, was forced into action against the Packers as the third-string center — a position he had never previously played in an NFL regular season game. Unsurprisingly, that led to some serious difficulties with the timing of snaps, resulting in several delay of game and false start penalties.

The Vikings will make sure Reed gets plenty of preparation in practice this week, as he's in line to start at center on Sunday in Chicago and perhaps in the opening playoff game as well.

O'Neill's injury is a brutal blow for the Vikings. He's a team captain who has been one of Minnesota's best and most consistent players for several years now. O'Neill is graded as PFF's fourth-best right tackle in the NFL, behind only Kaleb McGary, Tristan Wirfs, and Lane Johnson. With swing tackle Blake Brandel on injured reserve with a torn MCL, the Vikings had to turn to Oli Udoh as their third-string right tackle.

"I think Oli stepped in yesterday and gave us some good snaps against a good front," O'Connell said. "Kind of flashed some real traits that Oli’s always shown."

With four injured offensive linemen, the Vikings are severely depleted up front at the moment. Reed and Udoh will start against the Bears, but the bigger concern is what the O-line will look like in the first round of the postseason. The Bradbury updates haven't been encouraging, Schlottmann is out for a while, and it sounds like there's a chance O'Neill will be out for several weeks as well. Perhaps Bradbury or O'Neill or Brandel will have a chance to play at some point, but who knows?

As for their depth, rookie Vederian Lowe would be next up at tackle, while the new backup center is either Kyle Hinton or undrafted rookie Josh Sokol, who are both on the practice squad.

O'Connell indicated that the Vikings will "probably" be looking to add at least one offensive lineman soon.

"We’re going to take a look at that, just working through things with Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah), as far as the numbers we’ll need to possibly add, an interior player, a player on the outside, depending on how the final medical and timelines shake out," O'Connell said. "It’s definitely something we’re talking about."