Vikings Clarify Why a Key Player Went Down to Injury

Last season, Vikings K1 Will Reichard began his NFL career in a tremendous manner, not missing any kicks for the opening seven games.

The rookie saw his streak end in Week 9. After that game, Reichard needed to step away to get back to full health, leading to questions about whether the injury factored into his misses (which is to say nothing of the inconsistency that followed coming off the IR). When he spoke to the media at minicamp, Matt Daniels clarified his thinking about what went into the injury.

Vikings Clarify Issue for Will Reichard Injury

In baseball, a pitcher needs time to give his arm rest.

Sure, there are times in the postseason — or possibly in a late-season push to make the postseason — when pitchers operate on short rest. Generally speaking, though, there’s a certain amount of time that’s needed for these players to relax their bodies. The motivation is (at least) twofold: increased effectiveness and guarding against injury.

One wonders if thinking about that position in baseball helps us to understand what Coach Daniels is getting at in his answer about Reichard.

Per Daniels, Reichard needed to hit the IR due to the amount of work he took on in 2024. “Me as a coach, really having a rookie kicker last year,” Daniels began, “a guy who played into the [college] playoffs, went to the Senior Bowl, went to The Combine, and then he had a Pro Day. You really looked at, I mean this guy basically played eleven straight months of football without a break.”

Daniels went on: “Obviously he ended up having the quad injury that took place, right around the middle of the season, and that was probably due to over-kicking. Overexertion, really.”

The rest of the answer involves Matt Daniels explaining how the team is looking to get better at both kickoffs and field goals. Or, in other words, the most prominent parts of a kicker’s job description. One thinks of extra points as being another crucial factor, but Will Reichard drilled each one last season, making it hard to improve.

Pretty commonly, players struggle when making the jump from the NCAA to the NFL. Kickers are no different.

Things looked wonderfully optimistic to begin the year but an injury and inconsistency did impact Will Reichard as the season proceeded. He’ll be looking to prove capable of bouncing back, both due to increased rest alongside having the mental fortitude necessary to shine in the pros.

In thirteen games, Mr. Reichard went 24/30 on his field goals, which works out to an 80% average. The extra points finished off at 38/38, a blistering 100%, so the hope is to simply hold serve in that facet of his game. His season-long (and, by definition, career-long) field goal went for 58 yards.

Note, as well, that on 74 kickoffs, there were 62 (83.8%) that went for touchbacks.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.