Alexander Mattison Injury Updates | Shark Bites

On Wednesday, ESPN's Kevin Seifert reported that Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell spoke firmly about RB Ty Chandler being the team's primary back. "We're kind of building with the mindset that [Chandler] is going to be a guy we're trying to get the ball to a lot, both in the run and the pass," said O'Connell, adding that the potential availability of RB Alexander Mattison (ankle) will "be a huge bonus for the depth" at the position. It doesn't take much reading of the tea leaves to gather that Mattison has lost a grip on leading this backfield in touches whenever he returns from injury. Managers in season-long formats who picked up Chandler off of the waiver wire should be thrilled about his prospects of yielding a significant workload in Week 16 vs. the Lions, and seemingly beyond. See where Chandler lands in our latest RB rankings.

Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell said Monday that RB Ty Chandler "is absolutely a guy that is going to see a featured, featured role in our offense." Chandler gave the Vikings their best rushing performance of the season in Saturday's loss to the Bengals, ripping off 132 yards and a score on 23 carries. We'll see whether RB Alexander Mattison can make it back from his ankle injury for this weekend's game vs. the Lions, but it sounds like we should expect Chandler to lead the backfield regardless. He, of course, will be a much stronger fantasy play if Mattison remains out.

The Vikings fear a torn Achilles for RB Cam Akers, HC Kevin O'Connell said after Sunday's win over the Falcons. This would be Akers' left Achilles. He tore his right Achilles in July 2021, eventually making it back in January 2022. This latest injury would end Akers' 2023 campaign, leaving Minnesota's backfield to Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler. We should get confirmation on the injury on Monday.

Update: The Monday MRi confirmed the injury. Unfortunately, this makes Akers droppable across fantasy formats, including dynasty.

Vikings RB Cam Akers suffered an ankle injury in the second half of Sunday's game vs. the Falcons and will not return. That leaves the backfield to Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler. We'll update Akers' status when we know more.

Vikings QB Kirk Cousins is feared to have torn his Achilles in Sunday's win over the Packers, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. It's typically easy for doctors to diagnose a torn Achilles without any imaging. We should get confirmation tomorrow, but Cousins' 2023 season is very likely over. His absence would leave Minnesota with QBs Jaren Hall and Sean Mannion. QB Nick Mullens is currently on IR with a back injury but is eligible to return. Regardless, Cousins' injury is horrible news for Minnesota's skill-position players.

The Vikings will be placing WR Justin Jefferson on IR for the hamstring injury that knocked him out of Sunday's loss to the Chiefs. That means he'll miss at least the next four games. Jefferson's absence will obviously leave a bunch of targets for his Vikings teammates. Jefferson drew 47 through the first four games, 30% of QB Kirk Cousins' total attempts over that span. That makes rookie WR Jordan Addison a weekly starting candidate over the next month. He drew a season-high 9 targets in the K.C. game, reaching 6 receptions for the second time in three weeks. It also makes WR K.J. Osborn worth picking up in many leagues. But there's also a chance Jefferson's absence shifts the offensive approach. Minnesota leads the league in pass attempts through five weeks, sits tied for the lead in pass rate, and ranks third in pass rate over expected. Losing Jefferson figures to hurt the offense overall and could push a little more work to the running game. We're certainly not upgrading RB Alexander Mattison for this, but we'll be watching the offense's reaction over the next couple of weeks. Cousins clearly loses upside with the absence of arguably the league's best WR. Fortunately for him -- and fantasy managers -- the Vikings visit a bad Bears defense in the first game without Jefferson. That will help everyone's fantasy outlooks. An ominous Monday night date with the 49ers waits on the other side of that, however.

RB Cam Akers carried five times for 40 yards in Sunday's win over the Panthers, his first action with the Vikings. He added 2 receptions for 11 yards on 2 targets, one of just three Minnesota players who caught more than one pass in the game. Akers looks like the handcuff to RB Alexander Mattison but probably won't turn into a standalone fantasy play without a Mattison injury. Mattison rushed 17 times for 95 yards against Carolina and caught his only target for 3 yards.

Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell highlighted RB Ty Chandler as a standout in Thursday night's preseason opener vs. the Seahawks. "I thought Ty Chandler jumped out, because any time he had the ball in his hand, very rarely was he tackled by the first defender," O'Connell said. Chandler finished with 11 carries for 41 yards and caught all four of his targets for 29 yards. He got three-down usage with the starters -- which did not include QB Kirk Cousins, RB Alexander Mattison, WR Justin Jefferson, or TE T.J. Hockenson. RB Kene Nwangu was also held out with an injury, while RB DeWayne McBride only spelled Chandler on occasion in the first half. It was a strong showing from Chandler and has him looking like the favorite to open the season as Minnesota's No. 2 RB behind Mattison.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer hears that RB Dalvin Cook is now likely to remain with the Vikings for the 2023 season. "The Vikings have told other teams they're cap clean now, so there’s no urgency at this point to offload Cook," Breer writes. It sounds like Cook might still be available if another team was hot for him, but that seems unlikely considering Cook's age (28 in August), injury history, and cap hit ($14.1 million). We'll continue to keep an eye on this situation, but you should be drafting for now as if Cook will be a Viking this season.

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook assumed his usual rushing lead in Sunday's win over the Bears, racking up 18-94-2 on the ground to make fantasy football managers happy. But Alexander Mattison siphoned receiving opportunities for the 2nd straight week. Mattison drew 4 targets to Cook's 2, compared with the 18-9 carry split in Cook's favor. And Mattison actually ran 2 more routes than Cook this time after merely drawing close to Cook in that category in Week 4. This won't be a big issue as long as Minnesota wins but could cut into Cook's fantasy production when the Vikings trail. We'll watch to see if Minnesota alters the plan here as Cook moves further beyond his shoulder injury -- or if there's just a preference to get Mattison more involved with the passing game.

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook overcame his Week 3 shoulder injury to assume his usual workload in Sunday morning's win over the Saints. He carried 20 times to Alexander Mattison's 3 and caught both of his targets. Cook collected a just-OK 86 total yards and didn't find the end zone. WR Justin Jefferson vultured a 3-yard rushing TD, and Mattison scored from 15 yards out on his only reception. Although Cook's Sunday didn't do much to help you fantasy football team, we'll at least count the workload and emerging from the game healthy as positives. He'll get a nice matchup with the Bears in Week 5 before a visit to Miami and then a Week 7 bye.

Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell called RB Dalvin Cook "day to day" with the shoulder injury that knocked him out of Sunday's contest, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. That follows in line with initial reports on Cook's status. It sounds like Minnesota expects Cook to be available for Week 4, but we'll have to track his status through the practice week.

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook (shoulder) is officially active for tonight's game vs. the Steelers. It's a much quicker return than expected after he dislocated and torn the labrum in his left shoulder 11 days ago. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Cook is expected to play with a harness on the injured shoulder tonight, which figures to impact his pass-catching ability. And he's still at risk of re-injury. But Schefter also said that Cook is expected to get his "regular workload." That makes him tough to bench in fantasy -- although he certainly comes with elevated risk.

The MRI on Vikings RB Dalvin Cook's left shoulder revealed a torn labrum, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. It's not a season-ending injury. "The hope is this is like 2019, when the team rests Cook a few games to have him healthy for a playoff run," Rapoport adds. Cook missed 2 games with that shoulder injury, which is what former NFL head team Dr. David Chao expects him to miss this time around. That'd put Cook back on the field for Week 15, giving starts to RB Alexander Mattison the next 2 weeks vs. the Lions and Steelers.

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook suffered a shoulder injury in the 3rd quarter of Sunday's game vs. the 49ers. He was in obvious pain, was carted back to the locker room and quickly ruled out. We'll update Cook's status when we know more, but this clearly looks like a potentially serious injury. Alexander Mattison will be a RB1 for however long Cook is out.

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook has been accused of assault by an ex-girlfriend. Gracelyn Trimble alleges that Cook caused a concussion and facial injuries during a disagreement last November. Cook's representatives claim that Trimble was the aggressor, breaking into Cook's house, assaulting him and now extorting him for millions of dollars. But Trimble has messages from Cook about the incident, including him saying, "I know what I did can't be rewind...If you wanna go to the police I'll respect that I'll take my punishment for what I did!" Both the NFL and Vikings declined comment on Tuesday night. We'll see where this goes. RB Alexander Mattison needs to be owned in all fantasy leagues as a RB1 if Cook misses time.

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook (ankle) isn't listed on the final injury report. He practiced all week, including full workouts on Thursday and Friday. That all points to Cook being ready to handle a full workload. It's possible that Minnesota mixes RB Alexander Mattison in a bit more than they were before, but Cook is back to easy RB1 status.

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook (ankle) missed practice again on Thursday. He claims he didn't aggravate his ankle injury last week, but he clearly wasn't anywhere close to 100% in that one. It'd sure make sense for the Vikings to hold him out of a game vs. the Lions on Sunday that they can win without him. We'll get another update on Cook tomorrow. Alexander Mattison will be a fantasy RB1 if Cook is out.