Vikings RB Jordan Mason heads to IR with fractured thumb

EAGAN, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings running back Jordan Mason fractured his thumb and is headed to short-term injured reserve, Coach Kevin O'Connell announced Wednesday. The injury surfaced Monday morning, and further testing revealed the need for reparative surgery. Mason already underwent the procedure and is expected to miss at least four weeks.

"The good news is that we'll have Jordan back," O'Connell said Wednesday. "I don't anticipate (this) being longer than that short-term, four-week window."

With Mason absent, the Vikings elevated veteran running back DeeJay Dallas. They also added free-agent running back Jerome Ford to their practice squad. Those two will pair with veteran Aaron Jones and rookie Demond Claiborne ahead of Sunday's matchup with the Chicago Bears.

Meanwhile, O'Connell said quarterback Kyler Murray would practice Wednesday in a limited capacity. His status for Sunday remains up in the air. O'Connell said the team will defer to the medical staff's evaluation as Murray proceeds through the protocol.

"The good thing is the amount of reps he got from competing and being named the starter," O'Connell said of Murray. "He's got a lot of reps logged away. We're taking it period by period, as far as the plan we have. We want to be monitoring how he's doing. It's a little bit more of a vague thing at the quarterback position because they're in red jerseys anyway all the way up until game time."

The potential absence of Murray and guaranteed absence of Mason puts the Vikings' run game in an interesting spot early in the season. The team prioritized this phase of the game throughout the offseason. Minnesota validated its run-game commitment during the Week 1 opener against the Green Bay Packers, rushing 34 times and attempting only 24 passes.

However, the run game still warrants major improvement, with regard to efficiency. The Vikings averaged only 3.6 yards per carry, a number Mason boosted with a critical 28-yard scamper late in Sunday's game.