MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings' cornerback depth, which appeared to be one of the strengths of the defense at the end of minicamp, will be tested as the team heads into training camp.
Cornerback Josh Robinson partially tore his pectoral muscle before the Vikings' minicamp in June, according to a league source. Robinson, who logged 690 snaps last season and mostly worked in the team's nickel package, was set to battle veterans Terence Newman and Captain Munnerlyn, as well as first-round pick Trae Waynes, for playing time at cornerback this season.
With the fourth-year cornerback's status in doubt, however, the Vikings could put Waynes in a more prominent role as a rookie. The 11th overall pick in the 2015 draft mostly worked with the second-team defense during the Vikings' minicamp, as the team worked him in a number of different spots in Mike Zimmer's defense. Zimmer, however, sounded pleased with Waynes' growth throughout the offseason, and the Michigan State product could move up the depth chart because of Robinson's injury.
Robinson, a third-round pick in the 2012 draft, is scheduled to make $1.552 million this season. He is the third prominent Vikings player to suffer a pectoral injury in the past year; offensive linemen Brandon Fusco and Phil Loadholt both wound up on injured reserve after tearing pectoral muscles last season, and defensive end Brian Robison was limited during most of the Vikings' spring program because of a pectoral injury he sustained during a workout in May.