Vikings coordinator Matt Daniels had "exact same" injury as rookie Lewis Cine

MINNEAPOLIS -- Between a birthday Zoom session and outpourings from his teammates, rookie Vikings safety Lewis Cine has no shortage of support in recovering from his broken leg.

It turns out Cine has a great resource close to home, on the Vikings' coaching staff. Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels suffered "that exact same injury" when he an NFL player.

"I just shared my experience with him," Daniels said. "I understand what he's going through, that trauma."

Cine broke his leg covering a punt return as part of Daniels' unit in Sunday's win over the Saints. He had a successful surgery in London, where the game took place, and will stay there for some time to recover.

Daniels' injury occurred in 2013, when he was playing for the St. Louis Rams. It was the second year of his career, and his second season-ending injury after tearing his ACL a year prior.

"The road to recovery was very difficult for me. But again, the biggest thing on recovering from that was the mental aspect. You have to find a way to not get down and ask yourself, 'Why me? Why me?'" Daniels said.

The Rams signed Daniels as an undrafted free agent out of Duke in 2012. He spent two years with them before signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad, then appeared appeared in one game for the San Diego Chargers in 2015. He joined the Los Angeles Rams' coaching staff in 2018, where he and Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell worked together.    

Daniels said after his injury, he was ready to play by the next season. Having been through the experience himself, Daniels is confident Cine will make a full comeback.

"I know the way that he's built, majority of the process, the rehab process is more mentally than it is a physical aspect of it," Daniels said. "And so we just gotta make sure we do a good job as a coaching staff of really loving him up, providing him with that support that he needs, and I'm just excited to get Lew back, glad that he had successful surgery ... He's all smiles and really in good spirits, and so I'm really encouraged by that."