Not a surprise after he returned to play in-game, but good to hear an affirmative answer on it. McDermott said “his nose looks good to me. It’s always looked good to me.” Allen will be a locked-in QB1 against a Dolphins defense that is redefining what it means to be Down Bad through two weeks.

It’s coach-speak — Quinn added that “in the return to play, he and all of the guys have to hit all of the markers” — but it sure seems like Daniels has a real chance to miss Week 3. This will be one of the most significant injury situations to monitor ahead of Week 3. Marcus Mariota is set to play against the Raiders if Daniels is unable to go. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said earlier today that Daniels status for Week 3 is “in doubt.”

McCarthy was revealed to have suffered a high-ankle sprain in Sunday’s loss to the Falcons and will now be sidelined for the foreseeable future. The Vikings play host to the Bengals on Sunday and will then play overseas games against the Steelers in Week 4 and the Browns in Week 5, which could further complicate McCarthy’s return. Carson Wentz is preparing to start in McCarthy’s absence, and could have a chance to elevate Vikings pass-catchers after McCarthy struggled to the tune of 301-2-3 while completing 58.5 percent of his passes during the first two weeks.

It’s full steam ahead for Jordan Mason as a locked-in volume starter this week, although there’s now a big (bigger?) question mark under center for the Vikings. The Bengals have been one of the best teams for runners to face over the past few years. Jones remains remarkably hard to keep healthy and will likely be questionable for Week 4 as well. Zavier Scott is the only other healthy back on the roster and figures to take on a role of some sort behind Mason in Week 3.

OK. Leaving aside the bit where Coen seemed to incriminate the organization for not following injury reporting protocol — Thomas didn’t show up on the injury report at any point in Week 2 — there’s a somewhat ominous tone to the idea that he and Thomas are “going to have a conversation here shortly.” It sounds like those of you on the Thomas train are not entirely out of the woods just yet. This will probably be hit multiple times over the next few days and is the sort of story that will eventually get sourced reporting, but it doesn’t sound like Coen is entirely happy with what he saw from Thomas on Sunday.

Things felt like they were trending in this direction after previous reports that Johnson would be out indefinitely while the team explores whether or not the star corner will require surgery. With those questions now answered, Johnson is now slated to miss the rest of the season, but Schultz reports there’s “an outside chance he could return if Chicago is in contention.” That seems unlikely, however, as the Bears are 0-2 and looked like one of the worst defenses in the league even when Johnson was active. Johnson has been voted to the Pro Bowl in back-to-back seasons and was named a Second-Team All-Pro in 2023. If all goes well with his recovery, we would expect him to be ready in time for training camp next offseason.

The most talked-about toe in America will officially sideline Burrow for the next three months, and maybe longer. Things felt like they were trending in this direction after reports surfaced late in the night that surgery could be on the table after we learned the Bengals sent images to foot expert Dr. Robert Anderson last night. A three-month absence puts Burrow’s timeline for return somewhere around mid-December. How the Bengals are faring at that time could ultimately determine whether or not we see him again in 2025 or if they opt to shelve him until 2026. For now, this is Jake Browning’s team going forward. He’ll make his first start of the season in Week 3 against the Vikings.

Hockenson’s receiving line tells the tale of the Vikings’ game, one in which they managed just 46 offensive plays while getting completely manhandled in the trenches on both sides of the ball. What’s worse, the Vikings only trailed 9-6 at the half and had every opportunity for a curtain-call performance in the final quarter, but the team could not rekindle the late-game magic from Week 1 and fell to a 1-1 record in the process. Hockenson has now gone two games with no more than 15 yards, something fantasy manager hope is rectified in short order considering he went off the board as the fantasy TE4 in drafts this summer. Maybe a matchup against the tight end-funnel Bengals will kick start his season in Week 3.

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy attempted just 21 passes on a night the Vikings managed just 46 offensive plays, yielding just six targets for Jefferson in the process. Things looked to be turning around late in the first half when McCarthy connected with Jefferson on a 50-yard catch-and-run in the middle of the field to set up a field goal as time expired, but the two could not rekindle their late-game magic from Week 1. The salt in the wound came late in the fourth quarter when McCarthy badly overthrew Jefferson for a pick, allowing the Falcons to effectively run out the clock to end the game. Jefferson is likely to return better production when the Vikings host the Bengals in Week 3.

McCarthy and the Vikings were unable to replicate their fourth-quarter magic from Week 1 after struggling to move the football for three quarters, managing just six points before the break and being held off the scoreboard entirely in the final two frames. The second-year effective rookie also put the ball on the ground three times, losing one fumble, as the Vikings gained just 198 total yards of offense on a modest 23:28 time of possession. The early-season returns are less than adequate to sustain viable fantasy production for managers that invested in Kevin O’Connell’s offense, something the team will look to correct ahead of a Week 3 meeting with a Bengals team without quarterback Joe Burrow.