The Minnesota Vikings are expected to have tight end TJ Hockenson back for Sunday night’s game with the Indianapolis Colts.
Hockenson suffered a knee injury last December and has been sidelined since. Hockenson began the season on injured reserve and returned to practice on October 4th.
The team decided to hold him out of last week’s Thursday night game against the Rams, but ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported that the plan is for Hockenson to make his 2024 debut against the Colts. Hockenson has been a full participant at practice this week.
Over the last two seasons, Hockenson eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in 2022 and was on pace to do so in 2023 prior to the injury. He’s also caught 11 touchdowns during that span.
While naturally, Justin Jefferson will garner the attention–and deservedly so–Hockenson could also cause issues for a Colts’ defense that has struggled against tight ends.
We saw it just last week against Houston, who focused in on the Indianapolis linebackers, with tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Joe Mixon being among the receiving leaders in this game for the Texans.
Miami tight end Jonnu Smith also had a team-high 96 receiving yards against Indianapolis and Chicago’s Cole Kmet went for 97 yards.
On the year, the Colts are giving up an average of six receptions and 56 yards at 9.1 yards per catch to tight ends.
With this being Hockenson’s first game back, we will have to see what his workload looks like in this game, but when on the field, as always, he will be a challenge for this Colts’ defense.