Vikings Sign Hercules Mata’afa to Active Roster, Place Mark Fields on IR
Mata #Mata
The Vikings have signed DE Hercules Mata’afa to the active roster and placed cornerback Mark Fields on injured reserve, the team announced on Friday.
Mata’afa began the year on the active roster at defensive tackle, but was waived and re-signed to the practice squad in mid-October. The team began working him at defensive end, and he stepped up in a big way at his new position against the Packers. Mata’afa recorded four pressures, doubling his career total heading into the game.
Mata’afa played a career-high 32 snaps, only lining up at defensive tackle on two of them. It was a return to the edge, which is where he played when he won 2017 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year with 10.5 sacks and 22.5 total tackles for loss at Washington State.
He’ll continue to be a part of the Vikings’ rotation at defensive end along with Ifeadi Odenigbo, Jalyn Holmes, and D.J. Wonnum.
Fields suffered a “pinhole puncture” of one of his lungs during the Packers game, according to reports. He’ll miss at least the next three games.
The Vikings also confirmed the signing of CB Dylan Mabin off the Raiders’ practice squad. I wrote about Mabin here.
More roster moves could be coming on Saturday. At the very least, expect at least one player to be elevated from the practice squad. Brett Jones is reportedly going to be elevated because Pat Elflein isn’t ready to come off of IR, per the Pioneer Press. CB Marcus Sayles seems like another candidate for elevation.
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