Vikings Face Uncertainty as Andrew Van Ginkel's Injury Recovery Continues
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell has expressed uncertainty regarding the return of key players, particularly edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, as the team prepares for their Week 9 matchup against the Detroit Lions. Van Ginkel, who has been sidelined since Week 3 due to a neck injury, remains a limited participant in practice. While O'Connell is hopeful, he admitted that he doesn't have a concrete timeline for the player’s return.
“I’m encouraged by the fact that we’ve got a little more time this week, and how ‘Gink’ can possibly turn over,” O'Connell said in a press conference. “When he’s available, and we can get him back out there, he’s one of those guys that is a critical part of how we want to play defense.”
Despite the optimism, O'Connell remained cautious when discussing Van Ginkel’s availability for Week 9, saying, “I don’t really have an update right now, on that, for next week, in any kind of concrete way. But my hope is we get to see ‘Gink’ sooner rather than later, for sure.”
Van Ginkel has been a key piece of the Vikings' defense this season, and his absence has been felt in their pass-rush efforts. The Vikings will need all hands on deck as they face the high-powered offense of the 5-2 Detroit Lions in a crucial NFC North clash.
“We’ve been missing a lot of guys on defense, but we’ve got a great group here,” said linebacker Eric Kendricks, who has stepped up in Van Ginkel's absence. “We just have to keep pushing, but having ‘Gink’ back will be huge for us.”
With an extended rest following their Thursday night loss to the Chargers, the Vikings are optimistic about the potential for Van Ginkel and other injured players to return to action.
As the Week 9 game against the Lions approaches, the Vikings will continue to monitor the progress of their injured players, with the hope that Van Ginkel and others will contribute to the team’s efforts.
Ben Johnson Calls Out Bears Player Leaders After Loss to Ravens
Following another penalty-filled game for the Chicago Bears, head coach Ben Johnson is putting the onus on the player leadership to resolve the problem.
The Bears were penalized 11 times for 79 yards in Sunday’s 30-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, committing double-digit penalties for a second straight game and the third time this season as their four-game winning streak came to a self-inflicted end.
Afterward, Johnson harped on the penalties as a key reason behind their ugly loss.
“The penalties, to me, are what stand out, first and foremost,” Johnson said in Sunday’s postgame. “We still have some of the pre-snap issues. There’s occasional not getting lined up quite right. There’s occasional not getting the motion quite right. That stuff adds up, and it hurts us. We get away with it occasionally, but it’s just not the way you win in this league.”
Johnson also called out the “leaders” in the Bears locker room, challenging them to take it upon themselves to emphasize the issue with penalties and stop letting it hurt them.
“I really put it on the leaders there in that locker room to get this ship going the right direction in that regard,” Johnson continued. “Us coaches, we’ve been pounding that drum now for a while, and we haven’t gotten the results we wanted, so it’s on the leaders here on this team to get us right.”
Bears Have 5th-Most Penalties Called Against Them
A high volume of penalties has been a key issue for the Bears in the first half of 2025.
The Bears have committed at least eight penalties in six of their first seven games and have yet to finish a game with fewer than six. Following Week 8’s loss, they sit tied with the New York Giants for the fifth-most penalties called against them (64) and have the fourth-most pre-snap penalties (26), which has severely hindered the offense.
Other penalties have also impeded the Bears’ progress on offense, such as quarterback Caleb Williams‘ two intentional grounding calls that went against him in Sunday’s loss. It amounts to a sloppy football team, one that will find it increasingly more difficult to compete in the NFC North if it is unable to sort out its frequent run-ins with penalties.
“I think we’ve just got to emphasize it more,” Williams said about fixing the penalties after Sunday’s game. “I think being able to emphasize it more, talk about it more, figure it out, is where we’re at. Just find a solution on why and find a solution to stop it, because it’s hurting us as an offense and hurting us as a team.”
Can Bears Rally if They Correct Issues With Penalties?
The penalties are killing the Bears. It is why Sunday’s loss to the Ravens felt like a kick in the teeth, because their self-inflicted errors were the difference between 4-3 and 5-2.
If the Bears can figure out those issues — and that’s a big if — there is still time for them to turn their 2025 season into something more than just a small step forward.
The Bears are third in the NFC North behind the Green Bay Packers (5-1-1) and Detroit Lions (5-2), but they will have opportunities to catch up to them in the next few weeks against two opponents — the Cincinnati Bengals (3-5) and the Giants (2-5) — who have done more losing than winning in the first half of the regular season.
Additionally, the Bears still have four division games left on the schedule, including both of their matchups with the Packers. They are 0-2 in that department after back-to-back losses to the Minnesota Vikings (Week 1) and Lions (Week 2) to start the season, but a more disciplined team could exact revenge and make the playoff race interesting.
The Bears will face the Bengals at 1 p.m. ET next Sunday, November 2.
