The Minnesota Vikings designated center Ryan Kelly for return from injured reserve by opening his practice window on Wednesday, a significant step forward in their careful approach to the 10th-year veteran’s concussion history.
“He’s got this infectious wise-man energy to him. Everyone just feels a lot more comfortable when he’s around in pads, suited up,” quarterback J.J. McCarthy said. “He’s one of the leaders of this team.”
The Vikings have three weeks to evaluate Kelly before they must decide whether to activate him or shut him down for the remainder of the season. Coach Kevin O’Connell, who made the cautious decision to place Kelly on injured reserve five games ago, said he handled his recent workouts well enough to justify the next step in the recovery process.
Kelly will wear a Guardian cap, the soft-shelled helmet pad that some players choose for extra protection, O’Connell said. After suffering multiple documented concussions during his time with the Indianapolis Colts, Kelly played the entire season opener in his Vikings debut before forced out of their Week 2 game and into the concussion protocol. Kelly was cleared to play in Week 4 but sidelined again before halftime.
“I wanted him to be banging down my office door, and he’s getting pretty darn close to doing that,” O’Connell said.
Blake Brandel made the switch from left guard to center and has started the last five games in place of Kelly, a two-time Pro Bowl pick.
McCarthy, meanwhile, wore a wrap on his throwing hand on Wednesday after hitting it on a helmet after following through on a pass in the third quarter of the last game. O’Connell said he didn’t expect the bruising to affect his practice time this week despite the necessary treatment to address the pain and swelling.
“I definitely felt it for sure,” McCarthy said. “But there’s no excuses at all. You’ve got to find ways to adapt and make sure the ball gets to our receivers.”
Quarterback Carson Wentz, who started five games while McCarthy was recovering from a sprained ankle, had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder on Tuesday, O’Connell said.
Outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who left the last game with a shoulder injury, did not practice on Wednesday. O’Connell said he believes Greenard, who has not missed a game in two seasons with Minnesota, has a chance to play on Sunday.
Alex Bregman already is one of the most talked-about stars available in free agency right now.
This was the case before he even opted out of his deal with the Boston Red Sox and has only picked up steam since. He’s a star coming off his best season in a few years. Plus, he helped get one of baseball’s storied franchises back to the playoffs. It’s a perfect storm for free agency. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he has the most well-known agent out there in Scott Boras.
On Wednesday, Boras held a press conference where he discussed some of his clients. Unsurprisingly, Bregman was brought up and he had a clever coffee-themed response.
“I would certainly think that you know, like in Boston, we learned a lot about Bregman in 2025,” Boras said. “In Boston, prior to ’25, they had a lot of lineup do-not-holes and certainly, prior to ’25, Boston has been kind of a club that has been Dunkin’ well below the playoff line. I think it was a bad roast in Beantown. Give the owners credit, in ’25 they went out and spent some star-bucks to bring in a Bregman blend and got them to the playoffs. I’m sure Boston fans don’t want this to be just a cup of coffee. No one wants a Bregxit.”
All jokes aside, Boras isn’t wrong. Boston had a tough few years before bringing Bregman in. The Boston lineup was lefty-heavy and young and desperately needed a right-handed veteran with pop.
Bregman fit the description and more. The Red Sox handed him an aggressive $120 million deal for three seasons and really showed the league that they were willing to get back into the mix for star-level talent again.
Also, he’s not wrong about the fact that Boston fans likely don’t want the partnership to be short-lived. Now, it’s in the hands of the front office and agents. But, Boston made the right move by bringing Bregman in last offseason and it’s going to be a big topic over at least the next few weeks.