Future of key Minnesota Vikings player is in serious jeopardy after suffering another injury on Sunday
Ryan Kelly suffered his third concussion of the season against the New York Giants, raising serious questions about his future with the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota Vikings center Ryan Kelly suffered his third concussion of the season on Sunday afternoon in a 16-13 victory over the New York Giants.
Kelly suffered a concussion against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4 before he suffered this one on Sunday. It’s a brutal way for the season to likely end for Kelly, especially since this is now his sixth diagnosed concussion in his career, with the first three of them coming in 2023.
Ryan Kelly’s future is in serious doubt after sixth concussion
Head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke at length about Kelly after the game, and it emphasizes just how much he means to the team.
“You know his journey, and just how well he’s been playing, and the time that we all took, and he took to get back out there,” said O’Connell. “He’s absolutely one of our best players over these last few weeks, since his return.”
O’Connell is right about how well Kelly’s been playing. The Vikings have been really good at running the football since he returned to the field, and quarterback J.J. McCarthy took a pivotal step forward with that kind of consistency. O’Connell saw the play occur, and that’s where the concern comes into play.
“I don’t know where the contact [that could cause the concussion] could have come from in the normal rhythm of a play like that. There was some concerns from some of the folks out there about the play on our side,” O’Connell continued. “Most importantly, the concern for Ryan, we’re all thinking about him. And I don’t have an official kind of diagnosis or anything, but anytime anything like that happens, you have concerns as a head coach. I don’t want to get too much into it. I think we all need to take a look at it and figure it out from there.”
Being that this is concussion No. 3, Kelly will likely miss the rest of the season, as it’s been normal to see players get shut down once they suffer the third one. It also raises questions about whether or not Kelly will continue playing after this season. There was a possibility about him retiring after last season due to the injuries he’s suffered in his career, but Kelly chose to sign a two-year contract with the Vikings.
If the Vikings were to move on from Kelly, they would save $8.75 million on the salary cap. A healthy Kelly is someone who should be the starting center next season. His decision will be key for the Vikings this offseason, and nobody would be surprised if he chose to hang it up.
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