The outlook for this season didn’t look good for Vikings rookie wide receiver Greg Childs after he had to be carted off the practice field on Saturday, and now we know for sure that it isn’t good.
The Vikings announced Sunday that Childs has torn the patellar tendons in each of his knees. He is expected to have surgery in the next few days and will miss the entire season as a result of the injury.
The injury comes just as buzz about Childs filling in as a starter for Jerome Simpson in the early weeks of the was starting to build. Now the Vikings may have to turn to Stephen Burton, Michael Jenkins, or someone currently outside the organization to run opposite Percy Harvin.
It’s the second time that Childs has dealt with this diagnosis. He tore the patellar tendon in his right knee at Arkansas in 2010, an injury Childs feels hindered him in 2011 and contributed to his drop to the fourth round of the draft.
If there’s another slow recovery this time around (assuming there is a full recovery as former Browns cornerback Gary Baxter never made it back from his dual torn patellar tendons), Childs is going to have a hard time carving out a role for himself in the Vikings offense. Two lost seasons in three years and a long injury history isn’t a particularly good formula for getting a career off to a rousing start.