The Vikings placed safety Antone Exum Jr. on injured-reserve Tuesday and addressed a glaring need at the position by signing Shaun Prater and promoting Anthony Harris from the practice squad.
The Vikings are in a short-week situation heading into Thursday night’s game at Arizona and estimated on their practice report Monday that they would have practiced without all four safeties on their roster.
Exum started the past two games due to knee injuries to starting safeties Harrison Smith and Andrew Sendejo; Robert Blanton also has a knee injury. Exum played through rib and shoulder injuries he suffered early in last week’s loss to the Seahawks but was shut down for the season after it was revealed he had a fractured rib and AC joint issue in his shoulder.
Defensive end Justin Trattou was waived to make room on the roster.
Prater played in 18 games with the Vikings over the past two seasons and was with the team in training camp last summer, so he should be able to catch up quickly with the defense. Harris, an undrafted rookie, has spent all season on the practice squad.