By Brian Murphy
St. Paul Pioneer Press
MINNEAPOLIS - Vikings left guard Brandon Fusco practiced Friday for the second straight day but had not cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol before the team listed him as questionable on the week’s final injury report.
Jeremiah Sirles, for whom Minnesota traded with San Diego to add depth when center John Sullivan was sidelined after back surgery, is in line to replace Fusco against the Chargers on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium.
“It just kind of happens the way it happens,” said Sirles, who was acquired Sept. 5 for a sixth-round pick. “You never foresee anything happening like this. But if you get a chance, an opportunity to go and play, it would be kind of fun to play against the team you started with.”
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Sirles, 24, an undrafted prospect out of Nebraska, made the Chargers in 2014. He started one game and appeared in another as an injury replacement. He can play both guard and tackle.
“If you’re not a starter, you have to prepare like a starter because you never know when your number is going to be called,” he said. “I was a backup (last year), and all of the sudden the guy went down and you kind of get thrown in there.”
Zac Kerin and rookie Austin Shepherd are the other available offensive linemen who can be activated if Fusco is not medically cleared to play.
Fusco appears to have been injured on the final play of the third quarter during Sunday’s 26-16 victory over Detroit.
He went down after banging headfirst into charging Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch and was slow to get up. He did, however, finish the game.
The Vikings’ offensive line has been in flux since early August, when veteran right tackle Phil Loadholt was lost to an Achilles’ tendon injury in the second exhibition game. Sullivan stopped practicing in mid-August and had surgery to repair a herniated disc the week before a season-opening loss to San Francisco.
Minnesota also lost tackle/guard Carter Bykowski of Eden Prairie to a shoulder injury at the end of August.
The Pioneer Press is a media partner with Forum News Service
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