Every weekday, we walk you through what's going on with the Vikings.
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED
— The Vikings must shape up quickly after Sunday's bad loss to Seattle and turn their focus to Thursday's road trip to Arizona.
— Defensive back Antone Exum Jr. fractured a rib and injured the AC joint in his shoulder and six other Vikings are sorting through injury concerns.
— Vikings beat Writer Matt Vensel's three takeaways explain why the Vikings had no chance to rally once they fell behind 14-0. NFL writer Mark Craig drops the Vikings in his power rankings, read the replay of his live chat.
— The Vikings failed another test against a top team. They must start winning these games to prove they've taken the next step.
— The offensive line is taking protection issues personally after giving up four more sacks and seven quarterback hits last Sunday against Seattle.
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
— Arizona is down to its third- and fourth-string running backs, but instead of hurting the Cardinals, David Johnson and Kerwynn Williams have been saviors of sorts.
— The Cardinals plan to take it somewhat easy during the short week as they prepare to host the Vikings.
— Rookie running back Johnson rushed for 99 yards on 22 carries and had two receptions for 21 yards and a touchdown. The breakout game was no surprise to his teammates.
TODAY'S VIKINGS SCHEDULE
Coach Mike Zimmer and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will be on the podium at 11 a.m. after the morning walkthrough wraps up. The Vikings practice at 1 p.m.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
All four of the Vikings safeties on the 53-man roster — Harrison Smith (hamstring/knee), Andrew Sendejo (knee), Antone Exum Jr. (ribs/shoulder) and Robert Blanton (knee) — didn't practice on Monday. However, that didn't seem to concern coach Mike Zimmer at all. In fact, he went as far to say that veteran cornerback Terence Newman, who has briefly played the position this season, wouldn't have to play safety to help fill the holes. Zimmer usually likes to see his banged up players practice before giving them the green light to play, but this week's condensed schedule could make that difficult. When asked if that would be a requirement before Thursday's game, Zimmer said "I don't know, we'll see. I'll just make my decision as we go." The last resort would mean adding recently signed safety John Lowdermilk or Anthony Harris from the practice squad, which is unlikely to happen.
