EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings will likely be without defensive tackle Shamar Stephen for the rest of the preseason after the second-year player had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Coach Mike Zimmer said on Wednesday, however, that the Vikings expect Stephen back by the start of the regular season.
The former seventh-round pick played 414 snaps for the Vikings as a rookie, becoming a regular piece of the team's defensive tackle rotation last season and starting three games. His absence means the Vikings will have more playing time for backups such as B.J. Dubose and Leon Mackey at the end of the preseason, but Zimmer didn't seem worried about Stephen's long-term availability.
The prognosis for tackle Carter Bykowski isn't as good; a league source said Bykowski -- who was a candidate to make the team as a swing tackle -- sustained a torn pectoral muscle on Saturday against Tampa Bay. Bykowski is the fifth Vikings player to sustain a pectoral injury in the last 12 months, and the third to tear a pectoral muscle during a game, after fellow offensive linemen Brandon Fusco and Phil Loadholt.
Safety Antone Exum, who hasn't practiced this week, is dealing with a hamstring issue, Zimmer said, and center John Sullivan missed practice with "spasms," though Zimmer didn't specify whether it was his back or somewhere else.
