Vikings Get Bad News With Adam Thielen Injury Update

The Minnesota Vikings will look to stay alive in the NFC playoff race when they take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday Night Football. Unfortunately, they will have to do so without one of their top wide receivers as Adam Thielen has been officially ruled out in Week 14 due to an ankle injury.

Adam Thielen Injury Update

Thielen went down during Minnesota's first offensive drive in Week 13 after being tackled on a screen pass. The eighth-year pro was in some obvious pain and his injury has since been diagnosed as a high ankle sprain. He will need at least one week to recover, but is expected to return before the end of the year.

This is obviously a big loss for the Vikings offense. Thielen had hauled in 64 of his 92 targets through the first 12 games for 686 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has acted as one of quarterback Kirk Cousins' most reliable targets alongside Justin Jefferson, who will now take on even more of the load at WR.

Second-year pro KJ Osborn will likely be called upon to take over Thielen's role after playing in a career-high 92% of the offensive snaps last week. The young pass-catcher has racked up 412 receiving yards this season (5 starts) and is averaging a steady 11.8 yards per reception.

The Vikings are currently slated as 3-point home favorites against the Steelers on Thursday Night, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

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Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.