Vikings linebacker Jordan Hicks was hospitalized after undergoing emergency surgery on his lower leg, coach Kevin

O’Connell said Monday.

Hicks, a 31-year-old team captain, was transported to a hospital after Sunday’s 27-19 win over the New Orleans

Saints, in which he suffered a right shin contusion during the first quarter and did not return. Hicks watched the rest

of the game from the sideline, but O’Connell said continued swelling in his leg caused the team’s medical staff to seek

further care after the game. He underwent a procedure to relieve pressure that could have been damaging, the coach said.

“You can classify it as kind of a compartment syndrome,” O’Connell said, “where the pressure in that area and the damage it can cause if not handled with the utmost level of concern … could’ve been very serious.”

Hicks was doing well after surgery and remain hospitalized as of Monday afternoon. He will miss at least Sunday’s

game in Denver, O’Connell said. Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr., an undrafted rookie, replaced Hicks on Sunday as the

defensive signal caller wearing the in-helmet microphone that communicates with coordinator Brian Flores on the sideline.

On Monday afternoon, though, the Vikings added a familiar face who used to run their defensive huddle.

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the Vikings signed Anthony Barr to their practice squad on

Monday afternoon, bringing back the four-time Pro Bowler who spent eight seasons with the team that drafted him

ninth overall in 2014. Though Barr was an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense at UCLA, the Vikings made him a

centerpiece of Mike Zimmer’s 4-3 schemes and paired him with Eric Kendricks on the double-A gap blitzes the coach

helped popularize around the NFL. Flores has used the blitz at times, and sends extra defenders after the

quarterback more frequently than Zimmer did.

If Barr, who hasn’t played this season after appearing in 14 games with the Cowboys last year, is ready to contribute, he could assume part of his old role in the defense. He is the second of Zimmer’s former linebackers to return to

Minnesota this year, after the team brought Nick Vigil back to its practice squad.

The Vikings could also look to another linebacker, such as Brian Asamoah II or Troy Dye, or versatile safety Josh

Metellus to help fill the extra spot in the base defense.