The Vikings claimed former Texans and Browns running back Ben Tate off waivers yesterday, adding him to a backfield that right now is missing its three top running backs from back in Week 1.
Adrian Peterson, of course, is suspended for the rest of the season. Matt Asiata is dealing with a concussion, putting his status for Sunday's game against the Packers in doubt. And Jerick McKinnon, the current starter, has been dealing with a lower back injury that kept him out of practice yesterday.
Offensive coordinator Norv Turner explained that the decision to claim Tate, who was waived by the Browns on Tuesday, was more about the numbers game at the position than anything else.
"I've never been with Ben Tate and I'm not real familiar," Turner said. "Obviously, we're in a situation where yesterday we had one back that could practice, so the timing of him being released and the opportunity for us to add a back, certainly it was good timing. And we're getting started with Ben and trying to teach him our system and hopefully get him where he can be ready to go contribute."
Turner isn't sure how much Tate can contribute this weekend, as he only has a couple of days to learn the playbook. Turner said the Vikings can only dumb down the offense for Tate so much.
"We'll see what our situation is," Turner said. "Obviously you water it down too much then those guys on the other side, it's pretty obvious to them. But hopefully there are some things we can get him involved with."
As for McKinnon, Turner said the addition of Tate has nothing to do with how they feel about the rookie, who was back at practice this afternoon.
"We're excited about Jerick and what he's done and I see him as our running back,'' Turner said. "He's been limited in practice last week and couldn't practice yesterday. Hopefully he can practice today. So you've got to protect yourself, obviously with Matt not being able to practice yesterday and in doubt as to whether he'll play or not.''
