Aaron Jones - Minnesota Vikings
Aaron Jones - Minnesota Vikings
Week 2 against the Chicago Bears, Aaron Jones turned back the clock, put on his superhero cape and carried the Minnesota Vikings offensively to an ugly 9-3 victory.
This week, playing in sunny Tampa Bay against a leaky secondary and mid pass rush (at best), with starting quarterback Kyler Murray back under center, the recipe for victory should look quite a bit different than it did last weekend in wet, windy Chicago.
Aaron Jones not practicing
And if the return of Murray wasn’t enough, head coach Kevin O’Connell revealed Wednesday that Aaron Jones is not practicing today and his availability against the Buccaneers is now up in the air, due to a knee injury.
Other players who were not practicing this afternoon included injured punter Brett Thorson (hamstring) and rookie linebacker, Jake Golday (undisclosed). The Vikings signed Johnny Hekker back to the practice squad, in case Thorson can’t go.
Because Jordan Mason is already on injured reserve, the Minnesota Vikings’ backfield will be a hurting unit if Jones cannot go on Sunday in Tampa.
MN Vikings backfield in big potential trouble…
The whole reason why KOC handed the ball off to his 31-year-old running back 23 times in Chicago (the most Jones has carried the ball since 2022) was the head coach’s lack of trust in the other backs on roster.
This news makes it more likely we see the activation of newly acquired running back Jerome Ford for week 3. The 27-year-old former Cleveland Brown has amassed 1463 yards and 7 touchdowns during his four-year NFL career.
Related: Familiar JJ McCarthy Trade Partner Emerges for Vikings
We’re also on the lookout for a possible trade that brings back some proven ball-carrying talent, after O’Connell himself mentioned Monday that he planned to meet with GM Nolan Teasley about how to best supplement the backfield.
That means the Minnesota Vikings were already looking for ways to take some of the load off of Aaron Jones, even before they knew this knee injury could affect his chances to play week 3.
Obviously, Wednesday’s news makes that conversation even more pressing, despite O’Connell showing a little bit of optimism that his starting running back will be able to “turn over” and have his body ready for football by Sunday.
Reporter: “With Aaron, is it the knee or is he just getting a rest day?”
KOC: “He’s turned over, he feels great, he’s bouncing around the building like normal. But yeah, it’s more so the knee, and allowing that thing to turn over. He feels pretty good and we’ll just keep getting treatment around the clock, and see if we can pick up his workload as the week goes on.”
Kevin O’Connell on Aaron Jones’ absence from practice Wednesday