Vikings center Pat Elflein to have surgery on fractured left ankle

Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer declined to give any details except to say that Elflein is bound for surgery. A source said the rookie suffered a fractured left ankle and that the procedure is expected to be performed by Dr. Robert Anderson next Monday in Green Bay, Wis.

Before surgery is performed, the source said swelling needs to go down. If all goes well, the hope is Elflein will be ready for spring drills.

Elflein was hurt in the third quarter of the 38-7 loss when an Eagles defender rolled onto his ankle. Zimmer called it "unlucky."

Elflein became the second Minnesota offensive lineman in less than a month to suffer a fractured ankle. Left guard Nick Easton was lost for the season with a fractured right ankle incurred Dec. 23 at Green Bay.

Elflein, taken in the third round of the NFL draft last April, had a strong first season. He was named to the All-Rookie first team by the Pro Football Writers of America.

The additions of Elflein and free agents Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers played a key role in the Vikings' improvement on the offensive line.

"I think we had better players," Zimmer said. "Sometimes it's simple."

Zimmer said some other players are expected to have surgery, but he did not name them.

Giants claim Kyle Carter

The New York Giants, with their first roster move since Monday's naming of former Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur as coach, on Tuesday, Jan. 23, claimed tight end Kyle Carter, who was waived Jan. 13 by Minnesota.

Indications were the Vikings wanted to re-sign Carter when they were eligible to do so after the Super Bowl. As of Monday, his belongings had remained in his locker.

Carter was waived to create a roster spot to activate quarterback Sam Bradford off injured reserve. When the move was made, Shurmur was with Minnesota and preparing for a Jan. 14 divisional playoff game against New Orleans.

During the playoffs, the waiver period is 10 days, which made Tuesday the deadline for any team to put in a claim. Had Carter cleared waivers, the soonest he could have re-signed with Minnesota was after the Feb. 4 Super Bowl.

The week after Carter was waived, the Vikings signed tight end Nick Truesdell to the practice squad to give them a third tight end in workouts in preparation for the championship game. As of Tuesday, Truesdell had not been signed to a reserve/futures deal.

The Vikings on Tuesday signed wide receiver Cayleb Jones, who had been on the practice squad, to a reserve/futures deal. On Monday, they signed six players who had been on the practice squad to such deals.

Cook doing 'great'

Zimmer said running back Dalvin Cook is progressing well in his recovery since being lost for the season with a torn ACL suffered against Detroit in Week 4.

"Eric Sugarman, the (athletic) trainer, said he's doing great," Zimmer said.

Zimmer said he was pleased with the job Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon did in replacing Cook, but that it would have made a difference if the Vikings had Cook for the entire season. He had rushed for 354 yards before going down against the Lions in the third quarter.

"Dalvin is an unbelievable player," Zimmer said. "I think you saw that in the beginning games. Am I taking something away from the way Jerick and Latavius played if I speculate on (having had Cook)? I don't know. I thought those two guys came in and did a really nice job. I think Dalvin is a tremendous, tremendous football player. Do I think he would have made a difference? Yes."

Quigley's playoff woes

After tying an NFL record with no touchbacks during the regular season, Vikings punter Ryan Quigley had two during the playoffs.

"We need to keep those out (of the end zone),'' Quigley said.

Quigley had one in the 29-24 divisional win over the Saints and another against the Eagles.

"You want to be aggressive in the playoffs; you want to pin them deep," Quigley said. "It just didn't work out for us."

Quigley averaged 39.6 yards net during the regular season but just 31.7 on seven playoff punts. Vikings special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer likes to see a net average of 40.

Quigley signed a two-year contract with the Vikings last April. He is on the books next season for a nonguaranteed $790,000.