DENVER — Vikings wide receiver Bisi Johnson, who missed all of 2021 due to a torn ACL, will miss all of this season after tearing an ACL in his other knee, a source said Sunday.
Johnson was hurt in the third quarter of Minnesota’s 23-13 loss to Denver on Saturday in the preseason finale at Empower Field. After the game, head coach Kevin O’Connell was fearing the worst.
“We’re going to obviously run some more tests,’’ O’Connell said then. “It did not look good to me. … We’ll make sure that we get him to see our doctors and he’ll make the trip back with us and we’ll get him evaluated as fast as we can. … He’s had a really, really good training camp and has done everything we’ve asked of him at multiple spots. Very unfortunate there.’’
Tests Sunday confirmed that Johnson suffered another torn ACL. Johnson was hurt in training camp last season, and was placed on injured reserve for his third NFL season.
Johnson, a seventh-round pick in 2019. had 45 catches for 483 yards in his first two seasons, He is a native of Lakewood, Colo., a Denver suburb, and was playing his first NFL game in his home area.
“(Johnson had) earned a right in my opinion to be on our football team,’’ O’Connell said after Saturday’s game.
Johnson was one of a number of Denver players hurt in the finale, but the other injuries were not serious. Defensive lineman T.Y. McGill (ankle), linebacker Troy Dye (foot) and wide receiver Jalen Nailor (concussion) were all lost for the game in the first half.
O’Connell said Dye aggravated an injury he suffered in a scrimmage Thursday. Before being lost for the second half, O’Connell said that Nailor showed “some real flashes” in the game and “had a really strong camp.” He had one catch for 16 yards against the Broncos.
