The Minnesota Vikings will be without multiple starters on Sunday morning against the Pittsburgh Steelers, including edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel. He missed the Vikings’ Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and played just eight snaps last week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

It was a tough one for the Vikings to see Van Ginkel miss another game, especially with how defensive coordinator Brian Flores likes to rotate players on defense. Dallas Turner will be asked to step up once again in Van Ginkel’s absence, but when will Van Ginkel return?

Andrew Van Ginkel’s neck injury raises serious questions

It’s not a simple injury like a pulled hamstring. Van Ginkel’s injury is being described as a neck injury. He missed multiple weeks of training camp practice, but the game he missed against the Falcons was due to a concussion. Is that linked? Not likely.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell doesn’t think it will be a long-term injury.

Kevin O'Connell on Andrew Van Ginkel: "This is not something that we anticipate being anything that can have a long-term impact on him. He just came out of the game with some residual issues, and we just want to make sure we're smart. He's doing well, really well today." https://t.co/zQobHe3D6r

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) September 26, 2025

There hasn’t been much clarity on what this neck injury is. Is it with his vertebrae? A muscle pull? Nerve issue? It’s far from a certainty what the injury is, but it continues to hold him out. O’Connell had this to say on Wednesday, which is the precursor to what he said above.

“Yeah, he came out of the game feeling pretty good, and then, had some residual issues, more tied to probably the neck,” said O’Connell about Van Ginkel’s injury tied to the neck instead of his concussion. “He’s out of the protocol and cleared that through the medical process last week, and now we’re just working through what his week’s going to look like.”

O’Connell’s been as honest as you can expect when it comes to injuries. He tells you everything he can, but also doesn’t mince words when it comes to his lack of a medical degree.

It’s especially frustrating that we don’t know more about the injury because it’s the neck. We know that neck injuries are often severe, but the type of neck injury is the most important when it comes to contextualizing when a player may or may not return.

If Van Ginkel is out for some time, the Vikings do have Turner, who is playing starting-caliber football. However, Gabe Murphy has a knee injury, which hurts the overall depth of the unit. Without Van Ginkel and likely without Murphy as well, Bo Richter and Chaz Chambliss will get more reps, along with a heavier focus on the impressive defensive line.

We will learn more about Van Ginkel’s injury in time, but it’s a frustrating situation nonetheless.