Linebacker Blake Cashman back at Vikings practice after stint on injured reserve

Linebacker Blake Cashman was among four Vikings players who returned to practice on Monday, the first full-team session coming out of the bye week.

No official injury report is required until Wednesday, but coach Kevin O’Connell was happy to relay the positive developments Monday after an onslaught of injuries has tested their physical depth and mental resolve early in the season.

Cashman’s three-week practice window officially started Monday when he returned to the field for the first time since suffering a hamstring strain Sept. 8 while chasing down Bears quarterback Caleb Williams in the season-opening victory at Chicago.

“We have just seen since we got Blake, when he’s out there and we’re playing the type of defense we’re accustomed to seeing, Blake’s got a lot to do with it,” O’Connell said. “Very, very excited to get him back.”

Right tackle Brian O’Neill wore a brace on his right knee as he returned to practice from an medial collateral ligament sprain suffered Sept. 28 in Dublin. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy (ankle) and center Michael Jurgens (hamstring) also practiced for the first time since their respective injuries. Left guard Donovan Jackson, who missed the past two games following wrist surgery, continued practicing after returning Oct. 3 in England.

Cashman, last year’s leading tackler, said that he feels great, but that “it hurts your soul a little bit” to miss four games in a row. He has battled through injuries for much of his NFL career; in seven NFL seasons, he has yet to play in every game in a season.

“To be back on the grass with your brothers,” Cashman said, “you start to feel like yourself again.”

“Something I’m familiar with,” he said. “It’s been a while, but it was really important to get with [the training staff] the first day and go over a plan for the past month to make sure my health is straight and the hammy is bulletproof, so I can go out there with 110 percent confidence.”

Linebacker Eric Wilson has played well in Cashman’s absence as the Vikings defense ranks fifth in scoring and sixth in yards against. But the injuries have reached far past Cashman.

“Whenever you have an injury bug, guys are going down at all different kinds of positions, it stresses the team, it stresses the coaches,” Cashman said. “But we stayed resilient and did what we needed to do to hang in there and still be in a good spot coming off the bye.”

Running back Aaron Jones, who remains on injured reserve with a hamstring strain, is eligible to return next week.

Left guard Donovan Jackson, who missed the past two games following wrist surgery, practiced for the second time after returning Oct. 3 in England. The rookie first-round pick said he has been working on lowering inflammation in his surgically repaired left wrist and getting comfortable with punching defensive linemen.

Jackson, 22, was hurt Sept. 14 vs. the Falcons but played through the injury against the Bengals the following week. He said he was told by medical professionals that he needed to undergo surgery despite also being told he could play through the injury without the risk of worsening the issue.

“I was told, ‘Yeah, it’s a significant injury in terms of wrist,’ ” Jackson said, “but they said, ‘Well, if you brace it up, you won’t have to get surgery at least for like another week.’ So I was like, ‘Oh, so I can play the game?’ They’re like, ‘Well, we don’t recommend it,’ and I was like, ‘No, you said another week and I’ll be fine.’”

Outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel is “doing better,” O’Connell said, but still not practicing due to a neck injury. He has missed the past two games and has not practiced since the Sept. 21 victory over the Bengals, after which O’Connell said he was dealing with residual issues from an August neck issue. On Monday, Van Ginkel worked through physical rehab with a member of the team’s training staff on a separate field from where the team practiced.

“Then what I see is his workload hopefully picking up as we go,” O’Connell said. “Want to see how he does with some of that side field work. He’ll be a critical guy to get back in there when we can.”