During the third quarter of the Minnesota Vikings' miraculous 29-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Vikings strong safety Andrew Sendejo was knocked out cold by a blindside hit delivered by Saints star wide receiver Michael Thomas. After he was diagnosed with a concussion, Sendejo was ruled out for the remainder of the NFC Divisional Round after he recorded an interception of Saints legendary quarterback Drew Brees in the first quarter.

Luckily, according to Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer's press conference on Wednesday, the safety was a limited participant in practice and is expected to play in the upcoming NFC Championship Game on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.

“There's several tests you have to pass,” coach Zimmer said of Sendejo being in concussion protocol. “He'll be fine.”

There has been a lot of talk about whether the hit on Sendejo was intentional or malicious, which is something that Thomas adamantly denied on Twitter when he got into it with Vikings analyst Ron Johnson of Fox 9 the other day.

Vikings star free safety Harrison Smith, who is definitely in the running for the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award, was not too happy about the blindside hit on Sendejo and thought it was illegal.

Via an article written by Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune:

“I thought it was an illegal it. If you’re going to talk about defenseless receivers and all that stuff, it has to go both ways. That’s what I saw,” Smith said after the game. “I mean, Sendejo got suspended for what was a legal hit. So, I don’t know. I don’t know anymore.”

Sendejo continues to be a huge part of the Vikings' success this year on defense, as he racked up 80 tackles and two interceptions during the regulars season.