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The Minnesota Vikings will be without tight end Irv Smith, Jr. for their Monday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears. Smith did not practice this week, and despite some initial optimism from the team’s head coach, he was ruled out with a groin injury on Saturday.
Fantasy impact: Irv Smith, Jr. (groin injury)
Smith’s overall production numbers are not great. He has just three catches on five targets in his last two games, but he did score twice in Week 9 against the Lions. His best yardage output this season was a 64-yard effort back in Week 5.
Without Smith, Kyle Rudolph will handle the bulk of the workload at the tight end position for the Vikings. However, like Smith, Rudolph does not produce much in the way of useful or reliable fantasy football stats. He had just 40 yards last week, which was his second-best outing of the season.