MINNEAPOLIS— The Minnesota Vikings’ pass defense will be weaker than usual when the team takes on the Atlanta Falcons and former starting quarterback Kirk Cousins on Sunday.
Cornerback Stephon Gilmore will miss the game with a hamstring injury, the Vikings announced Friday.
“It was always something you had to keep your fingers crossed for just in case he could maybe get a limited day off and potentially be available,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “But he’s right on target with where we probably thought he would be and we’ll see what next week looks like.”
Gilmore left on Sunday win over the Arizona Cardinals early with the injury. Since signing with the Vikings in August, the 34-year-old former Defensive Player of the Year has started all 12 games and played more than 92% of the snaps in seven of them.
The Vikings signed free agent cornerback Kelvin Joseph earlier this week as insurance for the practice squad.
The team also said long snapper Andrew DePaola, pass rushers Patrick Jones II and Andrew Van Ginkel, defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, kicker Will Reichard and guard Dalton Risner will all be questionable. They “all hopefully have a good chance of going,” O’Connell said. The Vikings hope Reichard and DePaola can return from injured reserve on Sunday after both players missed more than a month.
The Vikings host the Falcons on Sunday at US Bank Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for noon.
