When the Vikings are at full strength, they might have the best group of pass catchers in the NFL, led by superstar receiver Justin Jefferson. But they won’t be at full strength on Sunday afternoon against the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon because star tight end T.J. Hockenson continues to rehab a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

To make matters worse, the Vikings now have to worry about standout receiver Jordan Addison and speedy receiver Jalen Nailor. They were both limited participants in practice on Wednesday afternoon as they work through ankle injuries.

The fact that Addison popped up on the injury report was assumed after he suffered an ankle injury during joint practices in Cleveland last month. The fact that Nailor popped up was something of a surprise after he made it through training camp without a hitch.

The good news for the Vikings is head coach Kevin O’Connell seemed encouraged by Addison’s prognosis.

“He’s doing better,” O’Connell said. “I think Jordan is in a good spot, and I feel pretty good about him making the game.”

As for Nailor, O’Connell noted that he’s a little bit behind Addison in the recovery process, adding that he would provide another update later this week.

“I feel really good about where Jalen is at coming off the training camp he had,” O’Connell said. “He got a lot of work with that first group.”

Cashman back at practice

After suffering a finger injury during joint practices, linebacker Blake Cashman was a full participant in practice on Wednesday afternoon.

Though he will have to wear a protective covering on his pinky for the foreseeable future, the fact that Cashman was back out there was a boost for the defense.

“I’m not overly concerned about what contraption he has on his pinky,” O’Connell said with a laugh. “I’ve felt the addition of Blake, all jokes aside. He’s been phenomenal for us. I expect that to show up on Sunday.”

Vikings announce their captains

The following players have been named captains for the 2024 season: Jefferson, quarterback Sam Darnold, right tackle Brian O’Neill, and fullback C.J. Ham on offense; safety Harrison Smith, safety Josh Metellus, and defensive tackle Harrison Phillips on defense; and long snapper Andrew DePaola on specials teams.

The announcement was made in conjunction with the unveiling of the Jim Marshall Vikings Captain Legacy Wall. It was named after Marshall, a 14-time captain for the Vikings during his career.

“A great way to honor him and just continue to highlight the great history of our organization,” O’Connell said. “We’re really proud of it. It will have this year’s captains photo along with a photo of Jim and a little bio. It will also list every captain in the history of the Vikings there as well.”

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As the calendar neared September last year, the Twins started transitioning Louie Varland to a bullpen role they thought could best help them down the stretch and in the postseason. Almost a year later, the Twins are in a similar situation with Varland, once again preparing him to shift roles.

Varland joined the team in Florida on Tuesday and was officially added to the roster on Wednesday morning to give the Twins bulk innings against the Rays.

Mired in a stretch of 13 straight games, the Twins added Varland for what is essentially a spot start to give each of their starters an extra day of rest. Having him come out of the bullpen — with Ronny Henriquez starting the game — allowed them to continue helping him adjust to coming on in relief, which he did in his last Triple-A outing with the Saints.

“Lou’s going to probably be pitching in some different roles as the season goes on,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

It’s possible that the Twins would have made this transition slightly earlier had Joe Ryan and Chris Paddack remained healthy. Instead, the Twins tapped into their starting pitching depth with rookies David Festa and Zebby Matthews.

They’ve kept Varland stretched out in case anyone anyone in the current rotation — Pablo López, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson, Matthews and Festa — gets hurt or is unable to go.

“You know that you have to hold onto good arms, guys that can start for you and go out there and give you five or six innings in a ballgame,” Baldelli said. “You have to have those guys and you can’t deplete your organizational staff, your depth, of those guys to move guys to the ‘pen early on.

“Is it possible that if things went a little bit smoother that he could have found his way into different roles earlier? I do think it’s possible.”

The Twins liked what they saw from Varland down the stretch last year with his stuff playing up out of the bullpen — in seven regular games, he gave up two runs in 12 innings pitched (1.50 earned-run average), striking out 17 — and could utilize him similarly this year.

While the Twins have not said what they expect his role to look like beyond Wednesday, it seems likely he will stick in the big leagues because optioning him will require them to wait 15 days before bringing him back.

Lewis starts at second

Royce Lewis made his first career start at second base on Wednesday, days after he shifted over there late in a game for the first time.

Lewis has expressed some apprehension about making the move midseason, but the Twins speak often about their desire for their players to be versatile, and challenging them by putting them into different spots. Baldelli said he doesn’t expect to see Lewis over there most games, but this is a next step after all the early work he’s put in over there.

“We’re not asking him to go out there and be the Gold Glove Award-winning second baseman this year,” Baldelli said. “We’re just asking him to go out there, work hard, pay attention, improve and make the plays that he’s expecting himself and we’re expecting him to make. I think that would be a great start for him.”

Briefly

Max Kepler remained out of the starting lineup on Wednesday as he deals with left knee soreness. He was scratched from Monday’s lineup and has not appeared in the series in Tampa Bay. The Twins held their annual fantasy football draft on Tuesday night at their team hotel. Starter Bailey Ober grabbed San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey with the first overall pick. Vikings superstar receiver Justin Jefferson went to Lewis with the No. 4 pick. … Pablo López will start the series finale for the Twins against Tampa Bay.

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A man was sentenced Wednesday to serve a total of 45 days in jail and three years of probation for pointing a pellet gun at two South St. Paul officers, prompting one to fire off a shot at him.

Demetrious Roosevelt Royal (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

Nobody was hurt in the May 31 incident, which happened at an apartment building garage in the 200 block of Grand Avenue West.

According to the criminal complaint, officers responded to the apartment building about 10:15 p.m. after a woman requested help in removing someone from her home. She said she was outside, then disconnected the call.

Officers did not see anyone outside the apartment building, so they went inside and walked toward the garage entrance. When an officer opened the garage service door, he saw a man, later identified as 54-year-old Demetrious Roosevelt Royal, pointing a handgun at him and another officer.

“The handgun had a red laser attached to it and it was pointed directly at the officers,” the complaint reads.

The officers ran out of the line of fire and slammed the door behind them. They took up positions of cover outside the garage.

About 30 seconds later, as the officers were airing the situation and requesting backup, Royal emerged from the garage through the overhead door. An officer saw the red laser briefly pointed in his direction, prompting him to fire one shot in Royal’s direction. He was not struck.

Officers ordered Royal to drop the gun. He raised his hands above his head and hit the ground. While face down, Royal slid a black object across the ground toward the officers. It was later determined to be a battery-powered red laser device that can be attached to a firearm.

Agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension searched the garage and found a Co2-powered pellet handgun inside a storage tote, which was otherwise empty. The pellet handgun was capable of having a flashlight or laser attached to it.

In an interview with law enforcement, Royal, of South St. Paul, admitted to having the laser but not the pellet gun, the complaint says.

In June, Royal pleaded guilty to one count of felony threats of violence after reaching an agreement with the prosecution that included no prison time.

Dakota County District Judge Christopher Lehmann on Wednesday stayed a one-year prison sentence for three years and gave him a 45-day jail sentence, with credit for 13 days he’s already served in custody.

The BCA in June identified the officer who fired his handgun as Dylan Naffzinger, saying he had 1½ years of law enforcement experience. The BCA is investigating the shooting and will present its findings without a charging recommendation to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office for review.

Royal does not have a criminal history in Minnesota beyond traffic offenses, court records show. However, prosecutors said Royal has eight out-of-state criminal convictions going back to 1989, including assault-displaying a weapon, possession of a stolen vehicle, burglary, robbery and domestic assault.

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After going through its inaugural season with only team colors differentiating its six teams, the Professional Woimen’s Hockey League will shift this season to nicknames and mascots, senior vice president for hockey operations Jayna Hefford said.

Known as Minnesota, Boston, Montreal, New York, Ottawa and Toronto since the PWHL was formed last fall, the league’s six teams will soon have names.

“Excited to let you know that we will have team names and logos that will be coming out very soon,” Hefford said Wednesday during a news conference introducing new Minnesota general manager Melissa Caruso. “That’s something that our team has been working incredibly hard on and I can’t wait to be able to share those with all of our fans.”

When those names will be announced remains to be determined. So, too, does the start date for a second season and team schedules, which Hefford said will include more neutral site games than last season.

The league played two games at neutral NHL arenas last season — at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena and Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena.

“We haven’t identified yet exactly where that will be,” Hefford said. “I would like to think at some point we’ll be able to expand our market reach outside of North America for particular neutral site games, but nothing has been confirmed at this date.”

X marks the spot

Minnesota played 11 home games at Xcel Energy Center last season and is expected to make the X their its in Season 2, as well.

“We don’t expect any changes for the upcoming season,” Hefford said, and Caruso said they also expect to seal a lease deal that would keep the team practicing at TRIA Rink.

Expansion talks

According to the PWHL, the league’s average attendance over 72 regular-season games was 5,448 per game. That rose to an average of 5,562 after the first nine postseason games.
The success has the league discussing expansion, although it doesn’t yet have plans to do so.

“That was one of the most pleasant surprises of Year 1, was how quickly we started talking about expansion, and various groups and markets that want to have teams,” Hefford said. “So, it’s been something talked about for a number of months now.

“We don’t have immediate plans, but we certainly are having discussions about what this league will look like in the next two years, five years, 10 years, and certainly expansion would be a part of those discussions.”

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