The Minnesota Vikings have confirmed that Jared Allen will need shoulder surgery in the off-season to repair a torn labrum.

The defensive end first sustained a shoulder injury in November, but played through the pain, and does not know when the ligament was torn.

The 30-year-old told ESPN: "It's not good. My inside game wasn't as good as I would have liked for it to have been just because I really didn't have as much power in my hump, but you fight through it and you're never fully healthy. I'll get it cleaned up.

"This is the first time I'm ever going underneath the knife. I had my tonsils out when I was 5, but that's it."

Allen was part of the Vikings side that lost to the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs on Saturday.

Written by
Sian Cowper