Smith, a 2019 fifth-round pick (162nd overall), announced Saturday that he will miss the 2020 NFL season because of a congenital heart condition that came to his attention after testing positive for the coronavirus. The 23-year-old will have to undergo open-heart surgery to fix a bicuspid aortic valve, a procedure he didn’t know he needed until he underwent further testing because of his positive test for the virus.

“Although this will unfortunately end my 2020 season, it is really a blessing that we found this as my heart is severely enlarged and wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” Smith wrote in an Instagram post.

He added that he “didn’t think twice” about having the surgery because it will allow him to continue playing football once he’s healed.

“By no means am I ready to be done playing football, there is still so much more I want to accomplish on the field,” Smith wrote. “Im going to attack this like everything else I have in life. Already looking forward to the comeback!”

In the meantime, Minnesota signed former Raiders linebacker Quentin Poling to add depth at linebacker.

A four-year starter at USC, Smith totaled 354 total tackles for the Trojans and earned All-Pac-12 honors in three seasons. Smith played in just five games for the Vikings in his rookie season last year, registering eight tackles.