So far this season the Vikings had avoided a major injury. In the third quarter Thursday, that changed when cornerback Chris Cook broke his right wrist on a Doug Martin run. Cook left the game and didn't return. Tampa Bay scored on the next play when Martin turned a screen pass into a 64-yard touchdown.
After the game Vikings coach Leslie Frazier reported the break -- Cook had a hefty cast on the wrist as he left the stadium -- but didn't give a timeline for his return.
Josh Robinson replaced Cook in the base defense, with A.J. Jefferson playing in the nickel. That might be how the Vikings operate going forward.
"They need to step up now," cornerback Antoine Winfield said. "I don't know how long Chris will be out. Broken wrist, that's not good. But our motto is when somebody goes down, it's the next man up."
Loud for a whileIt was the loudest Mall of America Field had been this season. It was late in the third quarter when, on a Josh Freeman incompletion, Tampa Bay's Donald Penn and Jared Allen of the Vikings got into an altercation. Allen said he fell on the play, and Penn pushed him while he tried to get up. In the ensuing scuffle Allen lost his helmet -- which left a gash on his nose -- and both of the players were penalized.
After a timeout, on third-and-10, the fans were very loud when Allen beat a double team, pushed Penn out of the way and sacked Freeman. At the time it appeared it could be a game-changing play.
"Unfortunately it wasn't a sack-fumble," said Allen. "So we didn't get points out of it."
When asked what was said during the altercation, Allen laughed. "Nothing vulgar," he said. "I know Donald from back at Utah State. He was playing hard, I was playing hard."