Christian Darrisaw returns to Vikings offensive line following three-game absence

The Vikings offense ran a season-high 86 plays during Saturday's marathon victory over the Colts, and toward the finish line 315-pound left tackle Christian Darrisaw twice buckled to the artificial turf at U.S. Bank Stadium with a cramping left leg.

Darrisaw returned from a three-game concussion absence during the Vikings' 39-36 victory and was one of three expended players, along with receiver K.J. Osborn and cornerback Patrick Peterson, cramping by the end of a historic comeback. Darrisaw was replaced by Oli Udoh for a brief moment. Austin Schlottmann started at center for Garrett Bradbury, who remained sidelined for a second week due to back spasms.

"Huge day for Christian to come back and be a major part of that," coach Kevin O'Connell said. "You need your offensive line to show up and handle their business, which against a really good front they were able to do."

Receiver Justin Jefferson also suffered a "rib/chest contusion," per O'Connell, which happened during a second-quarter collision. Jefferson, whose 12 catches for 123 yards and a score leave him 10 yards shy of breaking Randy Moss' franchise single-season receiving record, was evaluated twice in the medical tent. He returned from the rib issue and was also later evaluated for a concussion off a flagged hit before returning.

"He was able obviously to come back in the game, help contribute in a huge way to winning," O'Connell said. "I'm sure he'll be sore, but we'll keep you posted."

Peterson was forced to go into the locker room toward the end of regulation due to cramps.

"Thought I was hydrated all this week," Peterson said, "but the muscles wasn't hydrated enough, I guess."

"That will definitely go down as one of the most special ones," said Hockenson, who finished with three catches for 33 yards plus the two-point play. "But just to be here with this team. You don't come back from [33] points without it being a team effort, so all these guys in this locker room truly deserve credit and every bit of this T-shirt that we get. It's truly incredible to be part of this team."

The Colts and interim coach Jeff Saturday have been outscored 72-9 after halftime of their past two losses to the Cowboys and Vikings. Prior to Minnesota's all-time comeback against the Colts, the Cowboys outscored Indianapolis 33-0 in the fourth quarter on Dec. 4.

"Self-inflicted wounds," Saturday said. "You can't turn the ball over, you can't jump offsides on a short. Those kinds of mistakes ultimately cost you ballgames. It doesn't matter what quarter it is."

Asked if the Colts, who entered the day with the NFL's 31st-ranked scoring offense (16.1 points per game), were too conservative after halftime, Saturday said he didn't think they were, adding: "We still felt like there were shots to be had. We just didn't convert them."

"I'm disappointed in how we played in the second half and didn't find a way to close this thing out," he said, "but ultimately I told the guys in there, 'We didn't make enough plays, and that goes around the entire football team.' "