Vikings Get Huge Update on LB Blake Cashman Ahead of Week 7

Coming out of their bye week, the Minnesota Vikings got some positive news on a key defensive starter. LB Blake Cashman, a former fifth-round pick of the Jets whom the Vikings signed in 2024, has been on Injured Reserve (IR) since Week 1 after sustaining a hamstring injury in the team’s Week 1 game against the Bears.

But in great news for the Vikings, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced during his Monday press conference that the team is opening the 21-day practice window for Cashman. When a player returns from IR, the team can activate a 21-day window during which the player can practice with the team, but does not count against an active roster spot until he’s ready to return to game action. The team can fully activated him at any time in that window, but if they don’t before the 21 days expire, the player reverts to IR and cannot be activated again that season.

“[I’m] also excited to open up Blake Cashman’s [practice] window, we’ll open [it] up today,” O’Connell said. “We’ll go out for some on-field work today to kinda get the week kicked off. …It’ll be great to get Cash back on the practice field, we’re opening that window up, and he’s done a heck of a job getting himself ready to go. And we’ll give him the week of preparation and see where he’s at towards the tail end of the week.”

O’Connell also announced that QB J.J. McCarthy, RT Brian O’Neill, G Donovan Jackson, and C Michael Jurgens all returned to practice on Monday after missing the Vikings‘ Week 5 game against the Browns in London.

LB Blake Cashman is Critical to the Minnesota Vikings Defense

“I think a guy like Blake Cashman coming back is critical as well,” O’Connell said later in his press conference. “Because he assumes that ‘green dot’ position and we have just seen since we got Blake, when he is out there, and we’re playing the kind of defense we’re accustomed to seeing, Blake’s got a lot to do with it. So [we’re] very excited to get him back.”

The “green dot position” refers to a literal green dot sticker that one player on each side of the ball wears on the back of their helmet. Only one player for each team is allowed to wear one on the field on any given play, but the green dot designates which player is allowed to talk to the coaches on the sidelines through the helmet communication systems. On offense, that’s always the quarterback. On defense, it’s typically the middle linebacker, but it can also be a safety or other linebacker position.

For the Vikings defense, that player is Cashman. He’s responsible for getting the defense set, communicating the playcall to the rest of the unit, making sure everyone’s in the right spots, and calling out any audibles or adjustments based on what the offense is doing. More than just what he offers during the play, Minnesota is getting the quarterback of their defense back.

It’s a Good Time for the Minnesota Vikings to Get Healthy

While they aren’t quite dealing with the catastrophic level of injuries teams like the Ravens and 49ers are, the Vikings are maybe in a tier below that alongside the Chargers as teams that have still lost a lot. 10 combined Minnesota starters and the backups that replaced those starters were out or dealing with injuries in Week 5.

But now, the Vikings are getting some of those pieces back at the perfect time. Minnesota plays the Eagles, Chargers, and Lions over the next three weeks, and each team is currently 4-2. It’s a tough stretch, but the Vikings are getting back the manpower to handle it.

Bengals’ Taylor Has Blunt Response for Mike Tomlin

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers pounded the Cleveland Browns into the ground pretty good to the tune of 23-9. And it really wasn’t that close. Now, the Steelers are on to play the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night and will face the guy the Browns just traded to them.

Quarterback Joe Flacco was dealt to the Bengals about four days before yesterday’s rough loss to the Green Bay Packers. Flacco wasn’t good enough to help them win, but if you’ve followed the Bengals at all through the Jake Browning Era then you’ve noticed that Flacco was an improvement.

On Monday, Steelers head coach was asked about his thoughts when he first heard about the deal.

“To be honest, it was shocking to me,” Tomlin said Monday. “Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us because it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area, but that’s just my personal feelings.”

Today, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was asked about Tomlin’s comments.

“I was happy,” Taylor told reporters Monday. “That’s my only comment.”

Tomlin says Joe Flacco trade made sense for the Bengals

Tomlin wasn’t the only person that was surprised by the Flacco trade. It wasn’t so much that he was your opening-day starter this year because they had six quarterbacks on the training camp roster at one point. Two of those quarterbacks were rookies and the only real conundrum in Cleveland was who is first sacrificial lamb out there and which rookie goes in first?

Flacco was obviously going to be the first guy thrown out there. And while Flacco can still play, the Browns did not need a 40-year old seat warmer to go out and continually lose games.

The Bengals kinda do.

“It certainly made sense from Cincinnati’s perspective,” Tomlin said. “… He can throw the football, and he’s always been able to throw the football — arm strength, arm accuracy, anticipatory passer, fluid movement through progressions. That’s always been his game.”

Former Browns’ player rooting for Joe Flacco

Steelers‘ safety Juan Thornhill was with the Browns the past two years. He knows both the Browns and Flacco pretty well.

“I’m being honest, I wasn’t surprised about the Flacco move,” Thornhill said after Sunday’s win. “They took him out of there, they benched him, so I felt like it was next man up. They were kind of done with him. I’ve been over there before. I’ve seen that picture before. Once they bench you, you’re not getting back in there, and I felt like they had an opportunity maybe to get something out of Flacco, so they sent him to Cincinnati.

“I’m excited to play Flacco, man. He’s a great guy.”

A few weeks ago, Tomlin actually mentioned Flacco when discussing Carson Wentz coming in for J.J. McCarthy for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 4.

“We were in a similar situation a year ago,” Tomlin said on Sept. 23. “We were playing in Indianapolis, and I commented to the guys to keep [Anthony] Richardson upright. Don’t put [Joe] Flacco in the game, and Flacco ended up in the game. I think that’s oftentimes some of the things that you can run into when you run into a veteran guy, at least from a short-term perspective.”

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