EDEN PRAIRIE — The quarterback, running back and left tackle are all out, likely for the whole season.

The Minnesota Vikings have been playing as if nobody’s missing at all.

“In the NFL,” coach Mike Zimmer said, “it’s adapt or you get eaten up.”

Injuries are a given in this game, so overcoming the loss of key players is hardly a novel accomplishment.

The Vikings (4-0) have only finished the first quarter of the schedule, so their replacements have much more to prove over the long haul that they can render moot the absence of Teddy Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson and Matt Kalil.

The way this team has responded to these potentially devastating setbacks, though, is the type of trait that title contenders possess.

“I say it all the time, because it’s true about this football team. It’s so important to have the right kind of guys in here,” Zimmer said. “Guys that when it gets down to it, we fight.”

The damage to Bridgewater’s left knee that occurred in practice on Aug. 30 caused widespread consternation, but once the Vikings were able to visit with the popular quarterback they loosened up a little.