Greenway Out for Season

The fears about Chad Greenway’s knee injury in Monday night’s game were confirmed Tuesday.

The Vikings confirmed on Tuesday that rookie linebacker Chad Greenway will be out for the 2006 season after suffering a season-ending knee injury Monday night in a 16-13 loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Greenway suffered the injury while covering a kickoff in the first quarter. He saw action on one defensive play when the Vikings used four linebackers and had made one tackle on special teams before suffering the injury to his left knee. He never did get a chance to play in the base defense with the second team.

Greenway was able to walk around following the injury, but he was immediately declared out for the rest of the game.

“Chad is a great guy, and great player and a good friend of mine,” fellow linebacker Heath Farwell said after Monday’s game. “I don’t know the details yet, but it’s sad when a guy goes out like that, but you have to go out there and play hard for the team and step right in. … I did get to talk to him here in the locker room. You just hope for the best. It’s a tough deal.”

The Vikings already lost starting safety Tank Williams to a fractured knee cap during training camp, and Greenway is expected to be placed on injured reserve at any point in the next 24 hours.

The Vikings haven’t confirmed the exact injury yet, but typically season-ending knee injuries suffered this early in the schedule are either ACL or patella tendon injuries.

“The toughest part in this business is dealing with the injuries and this is no different,“ Vikings head coach Brad Childress said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate because Chad improved during our mini-camps, OTA’s and training camp. He did a pretty good job in the plays he was in there for last night and made a big tackle on special teams. Chad will evaluate his options in the upcoming weeks and we are confident he will be completely healthy for the 2007 season. Chad will have the full time to rehab.”