Vikings HC provides injury update on first-round pick
The Minnesota Vikings didn’t receive positive early returns on their 2022 draft class. Injuries derailed a few of the players’ rookie season, including first-round pick Lewis Cine. Cine, a safety out of Georgia, suffered a broken leg in a Week 4 contest against the New Orleans Saints. When he was drafted with the No. 32 […]
The Minnesota Vikings didn’t receive positive early returns on their 2022 draft class. Injuries derailed a few of the players’ rookie season, including first-round pick Lewis Cine.
Cine, a safety out of Georgia, suffered a broken leg in a Week 4 contest against the New Orleans Saints. When he was drafted with the No. 32 overall pick, there was hope that he would become a rising star in Minnesota’s secondary.
Unfortunately Cine played in just three games in 2022, mostly contributing on special teams. On Thursday, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell provided an update on Ciine’s health status.
“He's attacked every single day,” O’Connell said. “You see him nowadays he looks great. He's in great physical shape. He's here every day working and you can just feel he's hungry because he feels like he's earned the right through all the work he's put in. And I think he's feeling pretty strong and feeling like he's getting back to where he wants to be.”
In order to live up to his first-round billing, Cine must hit the ground running in 2023. While his physical health is getting better with each day, O’Connell said his learning curve shouldn’t be too drastic.
“Mentally, he never took a day off. We asked him the question, ‘Hey, when you're ready, we want you all in from a meeting standpoint, growing your understanding of not only scheme but studying offenses and how people run routes and how people try to attack defenses.’ And he jumped all in on that. So I'm glad you asked that because that theme kind of carries over to those young guys that did get injured last year unfortunately but it makes you that much more excited for where maybe they can make that jump, that big year one to year two jump.”
Cine wasn’t the only rookie to deal with injury issues last season. Defensive backs Andrew Booth (second round) and Akayleb Evans (fourth round) both missed significant time with their own ailments.
There was a lot to love about Cine’s game coming out of college. With a full offseason to continue developing, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him take on a significant role in the Vikings secondary in 2023.
