Minnesota Vikings starting cornerback Akayleb Evans went missing late in the team’s Week 16 loss to the Detroit Lions — and it proved costly.

Already without No. 1 cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., the Vikings thrust undrafted rookie Jaylin Williams, who hadn’t played a single snap this season, into the game with five minutes left after a poor performance from Evans.

Williams committed a costly illegal contact penalty on third-and-7 that gave the Lions an extra set of downs and forced Minnesota to use its final timeout on the following series.

The defense made the stop and allowed the offense a chance to win the game with 2 minutes, 24 seconds left. But had Williams not committed the penalty, the Vikings would have been afforded more time and a timeout for insurance on their final drive that ended with an interception by Nick Mullens.

In his postgame news conference, head coach Kevin O’Connell was asked why Williams was on the field for the Lions’ final drive and revealed that Evans was benched.

“I believe at that point Akayleb Evans was out of the football game,” O’Connell said, per the Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer.

Krammer asked to clarify: “Because of injury?”

“I believe he was taken out,” O’Connell replied.

Vikings Bench Akayleb Evans After Poor Tackling

The reason for benching Evans was evident from the Vikings’ perspective.

While Evans kept the Lions receivers largely in front of him, allowing five-of-six targets to be caught for 52 yards gained, he struggled to tackle tremendously.

On fourth-and-1 in the third quarter, Lions rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs juked Evans out of his cleats earlier in the game, a move that led to an 18-yard gain and a go-ahead touchdown by Detroit.

I can’t stop watching this pic.twitter.com/1dVP6G800x

— FFTony (@ItsJustFantasy_) December 25, 2023

Later in the third quarter, Jared Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown on an out route to the sidelines had Evans kept inside leverage on Brown. Instead, he tagged the Lions receiver who cut back inside to gain extra yards after the catch.

https://twitter.com/TSV__1/status/1739018704929935666

A 2022 fourth-round pick, Evans has played the most snaps at outside corner (601) this season, but it appears the coaching staff had seen enough on Sunday.

Evans finished the game with a 46.7 overall grade by Pro Football Focus (PFF) in one of his worst performances of the season.

The Vikings have yet to state why Evans was benched.

Vikings’ Mekhi Blackmon, a Fringe Top-10 CB, Left With Shoulder Injury

The Vikings cornerback room could be stressed this week with Murphy recovering from an ankle injury and third-round rookie Mekhi Blackmon exiting the game with a shoulder injury.

Andrew Booth Jr. played well in relief for Blackmon, posting the highest PFF grade (72.3) by any Vikings player with five or more snaps. Evans’ spot isn’t likely in jeopardy considering the other options, but if Blackmon can’t go on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota could be in trouble.

Through 14 weeks, Blackmon is the 11th-highest-graded cornerback by Pro Football Focus, although he’s been more of a rotational player so far this season. He’s posted a 78.6 defensive grade through 15 weeks across 398 snaps.

If Blackmon and Murphy can’t go, the Vikings’ top outside corners would be Evans and Booth with Williams in relief, with a combination of safeties rotating at the slot.