Vikings’ Andrew Van Ginkel, two offensive tackles ‘in a really positive place health-wise’

Outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel played 39 snaps (61%) in the Vikings’ 27-24 victory against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, his most since the season opener against the Chicago Bears, which he exited early with a concussion that aggravated his neck injury.

He missed Week 2, played only eight snaps against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3, and then was sidelined again Weeks 4-8 because of the neck injury that first popped up in training camp.

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said during his news conference Monday that Van Ginkel came out of Sunday’s victory “in a really positive place health-wise.”

Van Ginkel made three tackles, including one for a loss of 1 yard on Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, and one pressure on quarterback Jared Goff that resulted in an incomplete pass and brought up third down.

“I thought Gink being back just provides such an unbelievable presence in there,” O’Connell said. “Football IQ. Communication. Pair that with what [Harrison Smith] and [Josh] Metellus do on the back end in the safety spot, it felt good to have that group back together.”

O’Connell also said left tackle Christian Darrisaw and right tackle Brian O’Neill felt good exiting the game after playing 100% of the team’s 62 offensive snaps.

Running back Aaron Jones, who exited early with an AC joint sprain, is sore, but “the evaluations have been pretty positive,” O’Connell said. Jones is expected to ramp up his workload throughout the week.

O’Connell pointed to specific plays when discussing the progress shown by quarterback J.J. McCarthy in his return to game action Sunday, including a 17-yard completion to wide receiver Jordan Addison that positioned the Vikings at the Lions 11-yard line midway through the third quarter.

“The base, the balance to that drop and how effortless it seemed was something we’ve been really working on‚” O’Connell said of McCarthy on the play. “It felt like to me we saw some real progression from some of the things that we’d been really working on for a little bit of time.”

Three plays after that was McCarthy’s 9-yard rushing touchdown, in which he outpaced Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone and squeezed into the front right corner of the end zone.

O’Connell said the touchdown showed the importance of making sure McCarthy’s ankle was as healthy as it could be before he made his return.

McCarthy missed five games with a high ankle sprain, and while he returned in a limited capacity to team practices before the Vikings’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 7, he did not play until he had gone through a full week of full practices.

O’Connell said the 22-year-old quarterback is “hard on himself” but added there’s still work for McCarthy to do in not overanalyzing his reads, waiting for plays to develop and not getting too loose with his decision-making.

“That’s all part of the journey he’s on,” O’Connell said. “It definitely helps to have one of his best reps of the day ... be his final throw to Jalen Nailor. That’s who J.J. McCarthy is."

Fullback C.J. Ham (hand) is expected to return to team practices this week, O’Connell said, while tight end Josh Oliver (foot) and center Ryan Kelly (concussion) are likely to see time on the rehab field with training staff.

Kelly, who suffered his second concussion of the season and fifth documented concussion of his career against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 28 in Dublin, has been on injured reserve since Oct. 4.

O’Connell said he did not have an update yet on when Kelly’s 21-day window to return to practice would open but that the center “seems to be in a good place.”

Oliver exited the Vikings’ loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Oct. 23 because of a foot sprain after four offensive snaps.

The NFL trade deadline is 3 p.m. Central time Tuesday. O’Connell said that there will be dialogue and collaboration with General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, but that as more players return from injury, the team is “finally getting the chance to get out there with their teammates and play with the original intent of kind of what we hoped.”

The Vikings were involved in several trades dating back to this spring, including key ones acquiring running back Jordan Mason from the San Francisco 49ers, dealing away defensive lineman Harrison Phillips to the New York Jets for picks and shedding quarterback Sam Howell (Eagles) to help make room for Carson Wentz to sign.

O’Connell said he feels “pretty comfortable” with the current quarterback room of three — McCarthy and Max Brosmer on the active roster and recently signed John Wolford on the practice squad.

“You would love to find a way at some point maybe to get John up on the roster to take advantage of the emergency quarterback on gameday,” O’Connell said. “That’s obviously something we’re always trying to work through, but as we’ve been able to get a little bit more healthy around the rest of our football team — it might be easier said than done in the short term but something we’ll be taking a look at for sure.”