Dalvin Cook suffered a torn labrum in the Week 12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but how will this affect the Minnesota Vikings offense?

Since entering the league in 2017, Cook has played 52 games and missed 23. In those five years, these 23 games almost add up to a season and a half. The reason Minnesota selected Alexander Mattison in the 2019 NFL Draft was to be Cook’s backup. This has proved to be a great pick because Cook unfortunately has missed a lot of games.

Mattison has been one of the most productive backups in the league. In his first season, he recorded 100 rushing attempts, 96 in year two and 88 so far this season. He’s on track to surpass his career-high this week.

I’d love to see the Vikings mix things up on offense and run Kene Nwangwu in a couple of packages. His athleticism and speed are elite, and he could really cause some damage.

The belief is Cook can return by the time the playoffs start (provided the Vikings make it). At first, I thought this might be a season-ending injury, but this was better news than I anticipated. Gaining a healthy/fresh Cook for the playoffs will be dangerous.

Mike Zimmer claimed that Cook did not tear his labrum and is day-to-day, but he’s full of shit. He can deny any reports he wants, but we all know that he’s lying.

Here’s a look at the upcoming schedule and where each team’s defense ranks in rushing and passing yards given up per game (rush, pass):

• Detroit Lions: 29th, 16th
• Pittsburg Steelers: 28th, 12th
• Chicago Bears (2x): 22nd, 8th
• Los Angeles Rams: 9th, 21st
• Green Bay Packers: 8th, 9th

The Vikings should run more against the Lions, Steelers and Bears. However, Minnesota will likely have to lean towards the passing game against the Packers and Rams.

Kirk Cousins has taken a lot of flack for his performances in big moments, but he’s been playing at a different level all season. He’s seventh in passing yards (3,013), tied for sixth in touchdowns (23) and has thrown the least amount of interceptions (3). He also has the second-highest Pro Football Focus grade among quarterbacks (88.5).

The Vikings have a lot of offensive weapons, and Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen will be more involved offensively.

Minnesota will be just fine because they have one of the best backups in Mattison and a quarterback who’s been playing at a high level. As long as they can get through the Rams and the Packers, they should be fine.