The Minnesota Vikings spent the first month of the season trying to prove their offensive line could hold up when the schedule got physical.
That test arrived early. Minnesota needed every snap it could get from the left side of the formation, and the group had already been asked to absorb hits, rotations and the usual wear of September football.
Sunday’s home win over Miami only sharpened the concern. Two starters walked off before the final whistle, and the building spent the night waiting on answers that did not arrive until the next day.
Coach Kevin O’Connell announced Monday that standout guard Donovan Jackson has a torn meniscus, will need surgery and is out for the regular season.
The injury ended a start that had looked like a step forward for a former first-round pick still learning the pro game.
Jackson, 23, left the Dolphins game a little before the midpoint of the first quarter. He limped toward the sideline, spent time in the medical tent and later headed to the locker room with a trainer.
He was ruled out for the rest of Minnesota’s 15-10 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium. Backup Joe Huber took over at left guard and finished the afternoon in his place.
The loss reaches past one afternoon. Jackson had started all four games this season and had begun to settle into the spot the Vikings drafted him to hold.
Minnesota selected the Ohio State product with the 24th overall pick in 2025. He arrived with a reputation as a powerful run blocker who could also handle protection on passing downs.
That résumé included first-team All-America honors in his final college season and multiple all-conference nods with the Buckeyes. The Vikings signed him to a four-year rookie deal worth about $17.2 million, with a fifth-year option still ahead.
His first year in the league was not clean. He played through a wrist injury as a rookie and later had surgery, then returned and kept working his way into the starting group.
This season was supposed to be the cleaner version of that story. Through four weeks, he had raised his level enough that teammates and coaches treated him as a fixture rather than a project.
The timing makes the absence harder to absorb. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw also left Sunday’s game and is in the concussion protocol, leaving both spots on the left side uncertain heading into the next week.
Minnesota’s next opponent is New Orleans. Huber is the most immediate candidate to keep the guard job, though the coaching staff has not locked in a longer plan.
O’Connell’s update closed the door on a quick return. Surgery will decide the calendar from here, and the regular season will move on without Jackson in the lineup.
