An ongoing contract dispute with one offensive tackle, and the continued grief of another, has forced the Minnesota Vikings to shuffle their lineup for Sunday's season-opening game against the Chicago Bears.

Third-year tackle Lewis Kelly, whose wife Rakiva died Aug. 25 of complications from pregnancy, informed head coach Mike Tice early on Wednesday morning that he is not yet ready to return to the team. Because of that, the league has granted the Vikings a two-week roster exemption for Kelly, meaning he will not count against the 53-player limit.

"We're very concerned right now with the state of Lewis Kelly's mind," Tice said shortly after visiting Kelly at his home. "We're going to support Lewis in every way we can as an organization. I could not imagine the type of pain he is suffering through right now."

Kelly practiced Monday and the Vikings, like most teams around the NFL, had Tuesday off. The tackle phoned Tice during the pre-dawn hours Wednesday to tell the coach he could not yet resume playing.

"To lose your wife and your (unborn) child . . . I mean how do you begin to recover from that?" said Vikings center Matt Birk. "It's devastating."

The Vikings, of course, are also without projected starting left tackle Bryant McKinnie, the first-round draft pick who remains unsigned. There have been some discussions in recent days between Minnesota officials and the agents for the former University of Miami star, but an agreement is not imminent.

The absence of Kelly and McKinnie means that Everett Lindsay will move to left tackle and Corbin Lacina gets the start at left guard.

"I was actually surprised he came back as soon as he did," Lacina said. "He's got some things he needs to work through. I don't know what I would do. I couldn't begin to fathom what I would do in that situation."

Lindsey is an eight-year veteran with 59 starts, and has starting experience at every line position but center. Lacina has started 63 games.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.