When Vikings defensive tackle Linval Joseph went down because of a foot injury following the Vikings' 20-10 win over Atlanta on Nov. 29, the team sat at 8-3 and was in first place in the NFC North.
Since that game, the Vikings have lost to two of the best teams in the NFC, Seattle and Arizona, before rebounding last week against Chicago. The Vikings hope Joseph's return to the field on Sunday against the Giants — the team he played with for his first four NFL seasons — will give them a big boost defensively.
Against the Seahawks, the Vikings gave up 433 yards of offense, the highest total of any opponent this year, and against the Cardinals they gave up 393 yards. The defense played much better against the Bears, giving up only 293 yards, and Joseph is excited to get out with the defense playing better.
"I'm just glad to be back, I really am," he said. "I missed three weeks, and I'm just glad to be back on the field with my guys."
The 6-4, 329-pound Joseph said he doesn't even know exactly how he got hurt but said that's part of playing in the NFL.
"Those types of things just happen," he said. "I feel like I was on the field, fell down, I tried to get up to walk and couldn't walk."
In terms of how he feels now, Joseph said he was able to maintain workouts so he thinks he can get right back into playing condition.
"Actually it has felt pretty good [this week]," Joseph said. "It felt pretty good. I feel like I really haven't lost a beat. My conditioning, I've been training and doing everything to stay where I'm at now, and I'm just glad to be back."