Thielen required stitches for a bad cut on his ankle sustained during Wednesday's practice session, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

The Vikings remain optimistic about Thielen's status heading into Saturday's NFC divisional matchup against San Francisco, though his level of participation in Thursday's practice will be a key indicator of his chances of suiting up Saturday. Thielen had not been on the injury report to begin the week, and while the initial fear was that he suffered a setback, this was simply a case of the wideout taking a teammate's cleat to the ankle during practice, according to Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.