Adam Thielen popped up on the injury report Wednesday with a mysterious ankle injury and was listed as limited.
With the Vikings set to face the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday afternoon, Thielen's status is questionable heading into the weekend.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Thursday that Thielen needed stitches for a bad cut on his ankle suffered in practice Wednesday, per sources informed of the situation. He was present at the start of practice Thursday but did not participate. He officially was listed as questionable on the injury report. Vikings coach Mike Zimmer would not go into detail about how Thielen suffered the injury.
For his part, Thielen downplayed the severity of the injury during a Thursday visit on NFL Network's Good Morning Football.
"Yeah, you know how it is," Thielen said. "I just got a little tangled up in practice but I'm going to do whatever it takes -- it's playoffs. I'll do whatever it takes to be out there on Saturday with my teammates and try to help this team win."
Pelissero reported Thursday morning that the initial prognosis was encouraging for Thielen's chances of playing Saturday against the 49ers, but they're still gathering information and will proceed with caution.
Thielen later told reporters after practice that "we'll see how it goes" when asked about his availability for Saturday.
"I got a couple days so I'm going to take it one day at a time to try to be out there on Saturday and try to help my teammates," Thielen said per ESPN.com's Courtney Cronin.
While Thielen deals with his ankle issue, the Vikings did get some good receiver news Thursday. Stefon Diggs returned to the practice field after missing the previous two sessions due to illness -- though coach Zimmer previously had dismissed concerns Diggs wouldn't be ready for Saturday. Diggs did not have an injury designation so he should be ready to go for the game.
Coming off a seven-catch, 129-yard performance in the wild-card round -- after a rocky start to the game that included a fumble -- Thielen once again proved he's a lynchpin of the Vikings' offense.
When Thielen and Dalvin Cook are healthy and, on the field, Minnesota's offense is vastly superior. The Vikings have averaged 6.1 more points per game, 51.5 more yards and almost three more big plays per game when both Cook and Thielen have played this season (including playoffs), per NFL Research.
At this stage, the hope is Thielen's cut won't prove bad enough to keep him out versus San Francisco.
