Minnesota adds experience before the first snap

Minnesota elevated outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy and running back DeeJay Dallas from its practice squad on Saturday, adding experienced options before today’s season opener against Green Bay. Both joined the practice squad September 2. Van Noy brings prior experience with defensive coordinator Brian Flores in New England and Miami; Dallas brings a substantial special-teams background as well as work from scrimmage.[1]

The game begins at 4:25 p.m. Eastern at U.S. Bank Stadium and is scheduled for CBS. It is the 132nd meeting between the teams. The familiar opponent will provide the first regular-season examination of a Minnesota offense now led by Kyler Murray, with a renewed emphasis on making the running game a dependable part of its identity.[2][1]

Friday’s final injury report gave the Vikings a favorable starting position: no player on the 53-man roster received a game-status injury designation. Green Bay listed defensive tackle Warren Brinson out, with offensive linemen Zach Bako-Bewele and Aaron Banks and linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper questionable. Those designations are the published pregame report, not a substitute for the final inactive list.[3]

The run-game claim meets a defense

The Vikings’ own examination of their offseason work centers on wide-zone execution, healthier offensive-line continuity and support from tight ends and the fullback. Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason return to a group whose stated ambition is to make opponents respect the run as they already respect Justin Jefferson. The team’s account presents that as a goal to be demonstrated week after week, not an achievement secured in training camp.[4]

One figure in that account needs careful reading. Minnesota went 7–2 in 2025 games in which it exceeded 100 rushing yards. That is a relationship between rushing production and wins; it does not establish that reaching the yardage threshold caused the victories. Teams protecting a lead can receive more opportunities to run, while teams falling behind may need to abandon it.[4]

The stronger test today is how the ground game performs before the score dictates the play selection. Can it keep the offense out of predictable passing situations? Do modest gains remain available when the defense expects a run? A few explosive carries can create an attractive total without proving that the offense has become consistently easier to operate.

The same discipline applies to evaluating Murray’s first game in the system. A quarterback can create a memorable play while the offense struggles to stay organized across an entire possession. Watch whether early-down decisions preserve options, whether pressure changes the timing of throws and whether the offense can finish drives without requiring an exceptional recovery. Those are questions for the game, not predictions of its result.

Saturday’s additions offer useful depth without answering those larger questions. Van Noy has appeared in 173 regular-season games and Dallas in 84, according to the roster announcement. Their experience broadens the available personnel, but an elevation does not establish a particular snap count or guarantee an immediate role in the opening plan.[1]

The next dates on the calendar

Georgia’s next scheduled game is the SEC opener at Arkansas on Saturday, September 19, at noon Eastern on ABC. That makes Fayetteville the next appointment in the Bulldogs’ conference campaign. The matchup and television assignment are confirmed by Arkansas’s official schedule and its kickoff announcement.[5]

Tonight’s national NFL window brings Dallas to the New York Giants at 8:20 p.m. Eastern on NBC and Peacock. It is also John Harbaugh’s scheduled first regular-season game as Giants head coach, giving the rivalry an additional organizational question beyond the opening-week standings.[6][7]

For Minnesota, however, the first measure remains close to home. The useful result of this afternoon’s evaluation will be more specific than whether the offseason looked promising: which parts of the revised offense held up, which roles the added veterans actually filled and which adjustments the Packers forced. A division opener gives the season immediate stakes, while leaving almost every longer conclusion provisional.