The Aaron Jones Injury Prognosis Appears Positive
The official word was week to week, a designation that arrived last week. Will Aaron Jones be ready to roll by the end of the week?
The RB1 is a supremely talented runner, someone who adds a totally different element to the offense. His vision and balance are on a different level from any other Minnesota runner, allowing Jones to pickup first downs — and positive gains more broadly — with some regularity. The current outlook is that he could be available in time for the Week 7 Lions tilt.
Aaron Jones & The Week 7 Lions Game
Consider what Ben Goessling of The Star Tribune had to say.
Goessling’s observation: “Aaron Jones is participating in the #Vikings’ light practice as they return from their bye week. Good early sign for the running back after his hip injury in London.”
Likewise, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert noted that Jones was practising before pointing toward a bit of doubt: “Aaron Jones (hip) was on the practice field today. A light bonus session coming out of the bye. I still wouldn’t say it’s a lock that he’ll play Sunday.”
Other Vikings beat reporters made note of the RB1’s presence, as well.
The point, folks, is simply that Jones found his way to the football field early on in the week. We’ll see how that translates to Sunday football — Seifert is wise to suggest there’s no guarantee — but the mere fact that he’s putting in work is a positive step, one that points toward a legit possibility of playing.
Keep in mind, too, that the early word was positive.
On October 6th, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explained that Aaron Jones could be ready after the bye: “Initial word is that, by the time the Vikings return to action after their Week 6 bye, Jones should be good to go.” The Florio talk got corroborated by Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network, who revealed that there would be an MRI while nevertheless striking an optimistic tone. Per Rapoport, it didn’t “seem like a major injury.”
Finally, consider what VT had to say. Dustin Baker leans on a source to illuminate how things could proceed: “Furthermore, a source told VikingsTerritory that Jones ‘should be good to go’ for Sunday’s game. The same source also indicated there’s almost no chance that Hockenson will play against Detroit, instead targeting Week 8 for the tight end’s return.”
Aaron Jones is sitting on 71 carries, 350 yards (4.9 average), and 1 touchdown. He has added on 17 receptions for 167 yards (9.8 average) and 1 touchdown. So, a productive beginning to the season even as he has missed a bit of time due to the hip ailment.
Mr. Jones is coming in at 3rd overall among 67 eligible runners on PFF, further pointing toward an excellent beginning to the year. Even better, C.J. Ham is ranked at 1st among fullbacks.
Keep in mind that Myles Gaskin has been added to the roster. If there’s a need for other players to take on a larger workload, then Ty Chandler and Gaskin will get the call (alongside a bit of Ham).
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and PFF helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.