MANKATO, Minn. — On the first training camp day scheduled to be in full pads, the Minnesota Vikings made one minor change among their defensive backs.
Minnesota signed Chris Stroud, a rookie out of Webber International and released cornerback Nicholas Taylor. Taylor was a surprise signing in the offseason, after not playing college football at Florida International. He was a point guard on the basketball team while in school.
Taylor played some semi-professional football the past year and was signed by the Vikings after a displaying good speed in a workout. But he missed Saturday's practice with a shoulder injury and coach Leslie Frazier said he was going to have tests to determine the severity. Besides being a cornerback, Taylor was also receiving looks as a returner.
"We're going to end up having to put him on injury, waive him, and eventually bring him back on injured reserve," Frazier said. "He tore the labrum I think it was, so it's going to require surgery, major surgery, so it's going to take him out for a while, I think three to four months maybe."
Stroud was one of two defensive backs the team worked out after Saturday's practice. He was also part of the team's rookie minicamp in May, in which they bring in several undrafted players.
"You know, we had him back in that rookie minicamp where he worked out for us there and he did a pretty good job in that three days," Frazier said. "We just didn't have enough room for him. So, we wanted to bring him back and see what kind of condition he was in and he showed well (enough) in that workout that we put him through a couple days ago."
Stroud gives Minnesota another body in the secondary, which has seen a major transformation this offseason. But third-round draft pick Josh Robinson has a hamstring injury and Frazier said he is day-to-day.
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