Ryan Kelly injury update: Vikings make major decision on OL after latest concussion

The Minnesota Vikings are placing OL Ryan Kelly on injured reserve, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported. He is dealing with his second concussion in three weeks.

Kelly signed a two-year, $18 million deal with the Vikings this year after starting his career with the Indianapolis Colts. He made four Pro Bowls during his time in Indianapolis and was a Second Team All-Pro selection in 2020.

During his career at Alabama, Kelly was part of the 2015 national championship team. A consensus All-American and Rimington Trophy winner, he became the No. 18 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell addressed Ryan Kelly’s health last week when asked whether there needed to be conversations about his concussion history. He said the decisions will come from the doctors and the franchise will put players’ health first.

“Clearly the health of our players is always the … beginning, middle and end,” O’Connell said, via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “So we’ll totally defer to the doctors, and we’ll defer to the protocol, and ultimately, we’re going to want to make sure Ryan is in a good place. That’s not anything I particularly ever want to mess around with. We’ll be smart, and at the same time it’s definitely not my lane to weigh in on those things until the medical staff or we get to that place.”

Minnesota is coming off 24-21 a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin last time out. It marked the second start for Carson Wentz in placed of J.J. McCarthy, who is dealing with a high ankle sprain. McCarthy is again out for this week’s matchup against the Cleveland Browns in London, which marks the Vikings’ final contest before the bye week.

As for whether McCarthy will return after the week off, O’Connell has previously said he’d like the former first-round pick to long a full week of practice before getting back on the field. McCarthy practiced this week, but is still in line to miss Sunday’s game.

“He got through [the week] pretty well,” O’Connell said, via ESPN. “Obviously with the weather today, my hope was to try to get him some work during individual [drills], but with the weather and the tight field space – we’re working on a 100-yard field – we wanted to be smart with that. But very much looking forward to spending some time with him next week and see where he is at coming out of the bye.”