Vikings nose tackle Linval Joseph was at practice today, three and a half weeks after he was a victim, along with eight others, in a nightclub shooting in downtown Minneapolis. Joseph, who last week spoke for the first time since the shooting, planned to be a "full go" in practice this week.

Since we are now in regular-season mode, we got the boot about 20 minutes into practice, so we only saw Joseph participate in individual drills. It didn't appear that his injured left calf was affecting him too much, so that's an encouraging sign that he might indeed return for Sunday's opener.

Top pick Anthony Barr, who had been dealing with a sprained ankle, returned to practice, as did right tackle Phil Loadholt, who had an ankle injury and wide receiver Rodney Smith, who hurt his neck nine days ago. Wide receiver Adam Thielen, who left Thursday's game with a hip injury, also practiced.

Only four players were not participating while we were out there: fullback Zach Line, offensive tackle Mike Harris and outside linebackers Michael Mauti and Brandon Watts.

Line hurt his ankle in the preseason finale. Mauti has a foot injury and Watts has a leg injury.

Zimmer said he expects Watts to be the only injured Vikings player to not be able to play Sunday.

Harris, meanwhile, is not injured, at least not that we know of. The Vikings claimed him off waivers yesterday and he appeared about 15 minutes into practice. He might have just gotten in town.

And, yes, tight end MarQueis Gray, also claimed off waivers yesterday, was out there today.