Vikings' Danielle Hunter to miss at least three games while on injured reserve

Danielle Hunter will miss at least the first three games of the 2020 season after the Vikings placed the star defensive end on injured reserve Wednesday.

Hunter, who is reportedly dealing with a neck injury, according to ESPN, can return to practice as early as Monday, Sept. 28, and the game field as early as Oct. 4 in Houston. But there's no guarantee Hunter will be available by then, as head coach Mike Zimmer has downplayed an injury that first sidelined Hunter on Aug. 16.

The Vikings' trade for former Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue comes into clearer focus. Ifeadi Odenigbo, who was a starter before the Ngakoue trade, is expected to step back into the lineup for Hunter during Sunday's opener against the Packers.

"It's going to be hard to replace a guy like that," linebacker Eric Kendricks said Wednesday, "but we have guys who are hungry and want to step up, too." New injured reserve rules for the 2020 season allow NFL teams to return an unlimited number of players from I.R., and the minimum stay is only three weeks (down from eight weeks).

This post will be updated when the first Vikings-Packers injury reports are released later Wednesday afternoon.