Rice may miss half of the season after hip surgery
The Minnesota Vikings may have gotten their quarterback back but the team is experiencing other problems, namely at wide receiver. The receiving corps is really banged up and the news gets wore as Sidney Rice underwent hip surgery and may miss half the season.
Rice was Favre’s number one target last season, catching 83 passes for 1,312 yards and eight touchdowns. He had a breakout season and was expected to keep thriving this year after playing a full season with Brett Favre.
Rice is reportedly recovering well and is expected to miss the first six games of the season, possibly eight. He has not given a specific date for his return. The injury woes at receiver continue on to Percy Harvin who’s been battling migraines all training camp. The Vikings signed 31-year-old Javon Walker to fill a void, but it’s difficult to believe he could match Rice’s production.
The Vikings placed Rice on the physically unable to perform list throughout training camp. He has not practiced with his teammates, only running on the sideline by himself. He says he feels a lot of pain when he tries to run at full speed. The Vikings had hoped he’d be back for the beginning of the season, but obviously that has not worked out.
Rice, like Favre, was injured in the Vikings’ NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints; Rice with his hip injury and Favre with an ankle injury. Rice decided against offseason surgery but his recovery has not gone as well as he hoped.
With Rice missing from the line-up and Favre still not fully recovered from his ankle injury that would mean Adrian Peterson will have to step it up big time for Minnesota. He has an inconsistent season last year as the Vikings made a transition to being a passing team under Favre. That will have to change at least for the first half of the season.
The Vikings schedule minus Rice includes New Orleans, Miami, Detroit, the New York Jets, Dallas and Green Bay in their first six games. If Rice's absence goes up to eight games then that includes New England and Arizona. Needless to say, some tough teams are in that mix and the challenge will be immense without one of their best offensive weapons.
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