Vikings rookie kicker Will Reichard will have an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of his right quad injury, he said after Sunday night's win over the Colts at U.S. Bank Stadium. He was dealing with some soreness coming into the game and exacerbated it during the first half, but used a heat pad on the sidelines to continue playing, he told the Star Tribune's Andrew Krammer.
"At some point in the first half, don't know whether it was a field goal attempt or kickoff, he started to feel a little tightness in there," head coach Kevin O'Connell said. "Definitely something to monitor as we move forward."
Coming into this game, Reichard was the only kicker in the NFL who hadn't missed an attempt of any kind this season; the 23-year-old sixth-round pick out of Alabama was 14 for 14 on field goals and 20 for 20 on extra points. That changed on Sunday. Reichard missed a 53-yard attempt wide right midway through the the second quarter and then shockingly hit the right upright on a 31-yard chip shot with 17 seconds left in the half.
But despite clearly being less than 100 percent, Reichard was able to hit all three of his extra-point attempts in the Vikings' 21-13 win.
Will Reichard don’t look right… pic.twitter.com/KAduF9XXtm
— Leighton Glodek (@LGlodek) November 4, 2024
The results of his imaging on Monday will determine whether or not he has a chance to play in next Sunday's game against the Jaguars. If Reichard misses any time, the Vikings will have to add a kicker to their roster. That likely means signing a free agent, unless they want to sign one off of another team's practice squad. They could also theoretically trade for a kicker, though that would only make sense if Reichard is dealing with a significant injury.
More to come on Monday regarding the health of the Vikings' rookie kicker.
