Back to the Minnesota Vikings Newsfeed

Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. to miss preseason after thumb surgery

Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr., who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, will miss the rest of training camp and the preseason after having thumb surgery Tuesday.

Smith suffered the injury Monday during the team's first padded practice. The team hopes to have him back in time for the regular season opener against the Packers.

"We decided the best move moving forward was to go ahead and fix that thing," coach Kevin O'Connell said after the team's walk-through Tuesday. "So we went ahead and did that. He had surgery today.

"Obviously, with that being the decision, we still feel very strongly about our process to get him back and hopefully have him, barring any setbacks, available for that opener.