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- Mar 19, 2019
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EAGAN, Minn. – It's the first Monday of the 2020 regular season, and the Vikings currently have 53 players on their roster.
But Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer said that group might be tweaked as the week rolls along.
"I would anticipate some, yeah," Zimmer said when asked about making any additional roster moves.
The Vikings will open the 2020 season Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Packers. Kickoff is at noon (CT).
Minnesota trimmed its roster over the weekend to get to 53 players and then made an additional move Sunday by adding linebacker Ryan Connelly, who is a native of Eden Prairie.
Zimmer expanded on the roster moves, saying the toughest choices were at wide receiver and the offensive line. Minnesota kept nine offensive linemen, along with seven wide receivers, the most on its initial 53-man roster since Zimmer arrived in 2014.
"I think we had some good receivers and some of the offensive linemen, those areas were tough," Zimmer said. "Probably those two positions specifically."
Zimmer was later asked about wide receiver Alexander Hollins, who is one of 13 players on the practice squad.
"Yeah, I think Hollins did a nice job. I think he's improved," Zimmer said. "Just because he's not on the 53 now doesn't mean he's not going to play."
Practice squad maximums were initially set to expand to 12 players from 10 under the Collective Bargaining Agreement reached between the NFL and NFL Players Association in March. That limit was increased to 16 in an effort to add depth within a team's organization in case players test positive before games.
Zimmer noted that the expanded size and tweaked regulations will help the Vikings in 2020.
"I do think it helps. Technically, you can have four guys active on the game-day roster," Zimmer said. "You can only do it twice for each player. It does give you some flexibility and I think it's a good thing."