Vikings place Brian O’Neill, Austin Schlottmann on IR, sign Greg Mancz

Not a great sign for the Vikings heading into the playoffs

On Monday, Minnesota Vikings’ head coach Kevin O’Connell told us that the calf injury that right tackle Brian O’Neill suffered on Sunday was “significant.” Now, we know just how significant it is.

The team has placed O’Neill on injured reserve, meaning that unless the Vikings somehow make a run to the Super Bowl, he’s done for the season. The Vikings also placed Austin Schlottmann, who had been starting at center in place of Garrett Bradbury, on IR as well.

To add depth, the team has signed veteran center Greg Mancz (pronounced “manch”).

Mancz has been in the league for a while, going undrafted out of Toledo in the 2015 NFL Draft. He spent his first six seasons with the Houston Texans, starting 28 games for them during his time there. He then bounced around a bit, spending time with the Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and Cleveland Browns.

No word on how soon it will be until Bradbury is back, though the team is obviously hoping he’ll be back for the playoffs. I’m not sure how long it would take Mancz to get spun up, either, though with as long as he’s been in the league it might not take that long.

With Blake Brandel still on IR for at least another week, Oli Udoh will be the starter at right tackle moving forward.

Some bad news for the Vikings on the offensive line heading into the regular season finale, but it’s “next man up” time for the purple up front.