Injuries to play major role for both Jaguars and Vikings

The injury bug seems to strike hard once December roles around, but these two squads have an unusually high rate of injuries among their key players.

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The Jaguars have been dealing with some major injury issues over the past several weeks as most Jags fans know. They were without many key players in their loss to the Broncos last weekend and it appears they will be without some of their most important players again in week 14 when they take on the Vikings.

Kelvin Beachum, Dan Skuta, and Chris Ivory were all limited in practice on Wednesday, which would suggest that all three should be good to go by Sunday. The real concern, however, is who didn't participate in practice at all. Brandon Linder (ankle), Julius Thomas (back), Allen Hurns (hamstring), Peyton Thompson (ankle), Denard Robinson (ankle), and Jared Odrick (shoulder) were all held out of practice. That's some list. For a 2-10 Jaguars squad, they can ill afford to be playing without their best offensive lineman in Brandon Linder, two of their best receiving threats in Thomas and Hurns, and depth on special teams, running back, and on defense. The Jaguars will be in big trouble if Linder is unable to play against one of the best defensive fronts in football. If Linder is unable to go, it' appears Tyler Shatley will start. If Hurns and Thomas miss another week of action it will mean a lot more reps for Marqise Lee, Bryan Walters, Arrelious Benn, Ben Koyack, and Neal Sterling. 

While the Jaguars are dealing with the injury bug, the Vikings are dealing with an injury catastrophe in 2016. They're already without starting QB Teddy Bridgewater, starting RB Adrian Peterson, and have lost three offensive tackles for the season. Now it appears that Harrison Smith, their all-pro safety, will be out against Jacksonville and perhaps even longer with a severe high ankle sprain. Defensive Tackle Shariff Floyd was also a non participant for the Vikings on Wednesday. For a time it appeared that the Vikings would be unaffected by their misfortune with injuries early in the season as they jumped out to a 5-0 start. Since then they've lost 6 out of 7 ball games, and haven't looked anywhere close the Super Bowl caliber team that many believed they were to start the season.

Whichever team is able to overcome these injuries in key spots will certainly have the upper hand when it comes to achieving victory on Sunday. With two squads facing off that have a laundry list of injuries and have combined to lose 13 out of their last 14 games this could be an incredibly ugly one to watch. 

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