EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings might be thinking about getting away for the team's bye week, but one member of the team is only thinking about coming back.
Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer held one more practice before the players and coaches are allowed to depart with time off during this week's bye. Tight end Kyle Rudolph, out since Week 3 because of double sports hernia surgery, made the most of Tuesday's practice.
Rudolph returned to practice for the first time since Week 3, participating in individual drills with the rest of the tight end group.
"Just to go out there and get my feet wet," Rudolph said. "All the controlled stuff that we do on the side is still completely different than when you're running live routes. There's different things that you do than when it's live. Although (head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman) is a heck of a quarterback, going out there and catching balls from those guys is a little different."
Rudolph had been conditioning and working on the side with athletic trainers for the past two weeks.
With the bye week providing more recovery time, Rudolph hopes a return to the lineup for the Vikings' next game on Nov. 16 at Chicago is a possibility.
"That's my goal," Rudolph said. "It's been my goal this whole time. The timeline is up to (Sugarman), it's up to coach Zimmer. It would be horrible if we caused a setback to try to get that one game. The direction that this team is headed right now, we've got to have our focus and our goal for the long term this season."
Rudolph was expected to be a big part of coordinator Norv Turner's offense after signing a five-year extension during training camp. Rudolph had 10 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown in the first three games. He had been dealing with an abdominal injury according to the team's injury report and left the Week 3 game early in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota didn't place Rudolph on injured reserve with the designation to return hoping he could return within the eight-week timeframe.
"These last couple weeks have been big for me to kind of get over that," Rudolph said. "When I first started running I was pretty stiff and had a little bit of pain. So, like I said, I'm out there doing everything pretty normally. I just can't really do it at a high level quite yet."
Chase Ford has 13 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown the past two weeks. Ford has 19 receptions for 212 yards this season, filling the role as the team's top receiving tight end with Rudolph out.
"The talk this whole offseason has been that position and the role that it has in this offense and we feel like we have four or five guys in our room that can go out there any Sunday and perform," Rudolph said.
McKinnon out, Munnerlyn absent: Rookie running back Jerick McKinnon was held out of Tuesday's practice for Minnesota. Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn wasn't at practice for the portion open to the media. Zimmer wasn't available for comment after practice.
Heading out: With the team on the bye, several players get the chance to return home. Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is planning on a working vacation.
"I'm not going to get away from football, at all," Bridgewater said. "I'm going to go see family and everything, but I know how important these next seven games are. I'm still going to be able to watch some film on Chicago, be ready to face those guys next week."
Griffen living up to new contract: Defensive end Everson Griffen is tied for second in the NLF with nine sacks, already establishing a career-high for a single season. He leads all defensive linemen as Minnesota leads the league with 30 sacks as a team.
Griffen, 26, was signed to a five-year, $42.5 million contract in the offseason to replace Jared Allen as the starting right end.
"Everson got his opportunity to be the starting right end and he's really embraced that role," general manager Rick Spielman said Tuesday. "I think he's matured tremendously from when he walked in here as a rookie to where he's at right now and he wants to be good. And even though he's a great athlete, the other part of that is they have to want to be good and they have to want to be coached and they have to want to learn. I think Everson's a prime example of a guy that finally got his opportunity to be the starter and he's done everything he can to make himself the player he's showing that he can be at this point."
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