Tag: Aaron Jones

Aaron Jones shares details of pregame moment with family of Khyree Jackson

The tragic passing of Khyree Jackson may not be in the news as much as it was this offseason, but his presence is very much on this team. 

The sudden and tragic passing of Khyree Jackson may not be in the news as much as it was this offseason, but his presence is very much on this team. His locker has been left untouched at U.S. Bank Stadium, and on the road, they always make sure his memory travels with them.

Vikings running back Aaron Jones spoke to the media on Wednesday and shared the details of a moment he had with the family of Khyree Jackson before their matchup with the Colts.

Jones shared that he has made sure that flowers have remained in Jackson’s locker all year, and he shared that with his family. Jones added, “We miss him and he’s not forgotten. Everything we’re doing this year is for him.”

Jones has quickly become one of the leaders on this Vikings team despite just joining the team this offseason. If he continues his work on and off the field, the Vikings would be wise to have him get a longer-term deal done with the team.

Vikings organization gets glowing reviews in 2024 NFLPA report card

For the second year in a row, the Minnesota Vikings are one of the top organizations in the NFL according to an annual survey from the NFLPA

For the second year in a row, the NFLPA has released their annual report card evaluating each team in the league. This report card aims to evaluate every team in the league on how they are viewed across the league by the players who play for them.

Each year, the NFLPA sends out surveys to every player in the league, and their answers are recorded anonymously to produce the report cards. Each team is ranked 1-32 based on answers in 11 different categories, such as how players feel about the head coach, owner, training staff, food, etc.

For the second year in a row, the Minnesota Vikings are one of the league’s standout organizations. Across the survey’s 11 categories, the Vikings were ranked either first or second in eight of them. Of the three the Vikings fell outside the top 2, they ranked no lower than 9th.

According to the players, the Vikings were the top team in terms of their treatment of players’ families, the nutritionist/dietician on staff, the locker room environment, and their strength and conditioning coaches. Minnesota came in second regarding their training room, team travel accommodations, the head coach, and the team’s ownership.

The Vikings’ two worst scores were for their training staff (9th in the league) and their weight room (8th in the league).

The survey goes on to break each category down further, giving examples of what players said about each category to earn the rankings. The Vikings were singled out for their family room at the stadium and for providing daycare for players’ children on gameday.

On the low end, only 88% of players felt they received enough one-on-one treatment from the training staff, and felt that the staff only moderately contributed to their success.

Regarding head coach Kevin O’Connell, 98% of the players believed that O’Connell is efficient with their time, and the players stated that O’Connell is “very willing to listen to the locker room”.

All this paints a picture of an organization that is doing things the right way, and has built an environment that players want to be a part of. That’s clear in players like Aaron Jones wanting to come to the Vikings after spending his entire career with division rival Green Bay.

Only the Miami Dolphins got a better overall score from the players than the Vikings.

Christian Darrisaw injury update: Latest news on Vikings LT

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell announced Friday that LT Christian Darrisaw suffered a torn ACL and MCL and is out for the year

Things have quickly gone from bad to worse for the Minnesota Vikings. Not only have the Vikings gone from one of only two remaining undefeated teams in the NFL to a two-loss team in the span of five days, but now they have to face the rest of the season without a key member of the team.

Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw was injured just before halftime of Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. The Vikings were pinned deep in their own territory and simply looking to run out the clock on the first half. Running back Aaron Jones took a handoff from quarterback Sam Darnold and ran up the middle for a minimal gain.

Jones was tackled on the play by Rams’ safety Jaylen McCollough, and in the process of the tackle, McCollough rolled up on the back of Darrisaw’s leg. Darrisaw went down immediately and was down for several minutes before being helped by training staff to the locker room.

Now we know the extent of Darrisaw’s injury, and it’s the worst-case scenario. In his media availability today, head coach Kevin O’Connell announced that Darrisaw would be out for the remainder of the season, as his injury requires surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL.

With Darrisaw on the shelf for the remainder of the season, reserve swing tackle David Quessenberry will likely be called upon to fill his shoes and be the team’s starting left tackle for the rest of the season. Quessenberry replaced Darrisaw in Thursday night’s game and performed admirably, but this is a huge loss for a Vikings team that has seen their fortunes turn very quickly.

Minnesota now has 10 days to adjust and try to pick up the pieces before their Week 9 game against the Indianapolis Colts.

PFF Grades: Best and worst from Vikings Week 7 loss to the Lions

The NFL season will sometimes show us what we want to see from players; other times, we may see something bad when it isn’t there. For fans and media, there has to be a way to check and balance things to avoid favoritism or bias in a negative light. …

The NFL season will sometimes show us what we want to see from players; other times, we may see something bad when it isn’t there. For fans and media, there has to be a way to check and balance things to avoid favoritism or bias in a negative light.

Thanks to PFF, we will always have an extra set of eyes to examine the football game.

The team’s loss to the Lions led to the team realizing they are, in fact, human. They showed resiliency and a drive to fight back as they made a defensive play to get the lead late in the fourth quarter. This time, more than most this year, the PFF grades are going to be very interesting.

Here are the best and worst from the PFF grades for the Vikings’ win over the New York Jets.

RB Aaron Jones 77.9

QB Sam Darnold 76.4

WR Justin Jefferson 72.2

WR Jalen Nailor 69.5

G Blake Brandel 67.4

G Ed Ingram 38

RB Ty Chandler 45.7

TE Johnny Mundt 50.8

WR Jordan Addison 55.1

TE Robert Tonyan 55.4

Aaron Jones 75.7

Sam Darnold 67.7

Ty Chandler 52.5

TE Josh Oliver 75.2

C Garrett Bradbury 69.6

G Blake Brandel 61.4

WR Jordan Addison 60.6

WR Brandon Powell 60

TE Johnny Mundt 37

G Ed Ingram 43.7

OT Brian O’Neill 49.6

WR Jalen Nailor 52.8

OT Christian Darrisaw 56.6

OT Christian Darrisaw 85.8

FB C.J. Ham 84.1

OT Brian O’Neill 78.1

TE Josh Oliver 75.9

G Blake Brandel 74.9

TE Johnny Mundt 21.6

RB Ty Chandler 25.1

C Garrett Bradbury 37.6

G Ed Ingram 64.8

RB Aaron Jones 70.2

Edge Jonathan Greenard 92.1

LB Andrew Van Ginkel 80.2

SAF Joshua Metellus 73.5

DL Taki Taimani 71.7

CB Shaq Griffin 70.8

LB Kamu Grugier-Hill 28

SAF Camryn Bynum 34.9

Edge Dallas Turner 41.2

SAF Harrison Smith 43.2

LB Ivan Pace Jr. 47

SAF Joshua Metellus 90.5

CB Byron Murphy Jr. 74.9

DL Jerry Tillery 69.7

CB Shaq Griffin 69.2

LB Ivan Pace Jr. 68.8

LB Kamu Grugier-Hill 31

SAF Camryn Bynum 40.7

DL Harrison Phillips 45.7

DL Jonathan Bullard 51.2

SAF Harrison Smith 52.2

Edge Jonathan Greenard 93.7

LB Ivan Pace Jr. 84.5

SAF Joshua Metellus 74.9

LB Andrew Van Ginkel 69.9

DL Jonathan Bullard 66

DL Pat Jones II 50.4

DL Harrison Phillips 51.5

LB Kamu Grugier-Hill 55.8

Edge Dallas Turner 56.5

DL Jerry Tillery 57.1

LB Andrew Van Ginkel 89.2

DL Harrison Phillips 75.4

Shaq Griffin 66.2

Edge Jonathan Greenard 61.7

DL Pat Jones II 61.4

LB Ivan Pace Jr. 29.4

SAF Camryn Bynum 43.8

LB Kamu Grugier-Hill 45.4

SAF Harrison Smith 47.3

SAF Joshua Metellus 48.3

Aaron Jones shows everyone that his Week 5 injury is no issue

Minnesota was the first team on the scoreboard on Sunday against the Lions thanks to a monster run by Aaron Jones.

It was a picture-perfect start for the Vikings in a big-time game against the Detroit Lions. The Lions got the ball to start the game, but after a couple of penalties and good Minnesota defense — Dan Campbell attempted his famous fake punt. The Vikings’ special teams sniffed that out perfectly, and they had the ball in Detroit territory.

Two plays later, Aaron Jones takes the ball 34 yards for a Vikings’ score. Minnesota handed Jones the ball to the left, and the entire Detroit defense went right, and nobody was in a position to stop Jones. Rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold was the only one who could’ve made a play, but he wasn’t in position.

Jones was questionable all week due to a hamstring injury, but this carry showed that Jones looked pretty good. Minnesota will take an early 7-0 lead over their in-division rival.

Is Aaron Jones playing today? Injury updates for Vikings RB

Vikings running back Aaron Jones is dealing with a hip injury. Here are the latest updates.

Aaron Jones injured his hip and hamstring against the New York Jets when the team played in London in Week 5. Jones took advantage of the Bye Week to give himself some extra rest, which gave the team and fans hope he would be ready for the game against the Lions.

The team has dropped their gameday inactives, and we have that news for you.

Aaron Jones injury update

Aaron Jones is active for Sunday’s Week 7 matchup against the Detroit Lions. It is a team he has played well against in 10 career games against them. In total, he has accumulated 594 rushing yards and found the endzone seven times; he hopes to add to those numbers on Sunday.

Minnesota Vikings running back depth chart

The Vikings running back depth chart against the Lions will be as follows:

  • Aaron Jones
  • Ty Chandler
  • Cam Akers*

*Cam Akers was acquired this week via trade, so his expected snap count and availability are undetermined. He was made active for the game on Sunday.

Kevin O’Connell explains why the Vikings traded for Cam Akers

For the second time in two seasons, the Vikings made a move to trade for running back Cam Akers.

For the second year in a row, the Vikings traded for running back Cam Akers. The former Texan running back had 40 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown for Houston this season before Minnesota traded for him.

The trade raised a few eyebrows around the league and the main reason was because of starter Aaron Jones and what that signaled about the injury he suffered in London two weeks ago. Jones left with a hip injury, but head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters on Wednesday that the trade had no bearing on the current situation.

“Has no bearing on our current running back situation,” O’Connell said. “Aaron is going to progress throughout the week and hopefully has a chance to go on Sunday. Ty Chandler and Myles Gaskin and Cam will work behind (him). I like where Ty’s at, obviously, Aaron Jones has been a huge impact to our team, so getting to solidify that depth at that position, with an urgency to run the football throughout the rest of the season, we wanted to make sure we could do that now when an opportunity became available.”

It ultimately sounds like coach O’Connell just really likes Akers as a running back and Minnesota did want to re-sign him this offseason but the two sides didn’t agree on a deal. Akers will now get an opportunity to earn a potential backup role to Jones if he can beat out Chandler.

Aaron Jones ‘not sure’ if he will play on Sunday for the Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings running back isn’t sure if he will be able to play against the Lions on Sunday.

The Vikings made a trade for Texans’ running back — and former Viking — Cam Akers on Tuesday night. But the trade didn’t indicate anything was seriously wrong with starter Aaron Jones. The first-year running back left the Jets game during Week 5 action after taking a hit and didn’t return to the game.

Even after a bye week in which he rehabbed, Jones told reporters that he was “not sure” if he would play on Sunday against the Lions. Jones plans to practice on Thursday and Friday and will know if he can give it a go on Sunday in a pivotal divisional game.

Jones actually said he hurt his hip pregame in London. He said he felt something when he was stretching but wanted to play. He then took a hit against a Jets’ defender and knew there was something wrong.

If Jones cannot play against Detroit, expect Ty Chandler and Cam Akers to see the snaps.

TRADE: Vikings acquire running back Cam Akers from the Houston Texans

The Minnesota Vikings saw what their running game turned into with Aaron Jones being hurt, and they got some insurance. 

The Minnesota Vikings saw what their running game turned into with Aaron Jones being hurt, and they got some insurance. On Tuesday, they traded for a familiar face, which was the third trade of the day for the NFL.

According to NFL Media, the Minnesota Vikings acquired running back Cam Akers from the Houston Texans. Akers signed with the Texans after spending last season with the Vikings, so he is familiar with the offense and roster.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah sent the Texans a conditional 6th-round pick in 2026 in return for Akers and a conditional 7th-round pick in 2026.

Akers has run for 147 yards and found the endzone once while working in a loaded backfield in Houston. Akers was the odd man out with the team utilizing Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce.

The Vikings gave running backs Ty Chandler and Myles Gaskin every chance to earn the role in the preseason and against the Jets, but they proved to be less than ideal. Once Aaron Jones went down with his hip injury, the entire offense lost its momentum, and the Vikings could not afford that.

Vikings RB Aaron Jones (hip) returns to practice following Bye Week

 The Minnesota Vikings offense has been a well-oiled machine in 2024 with Aaron Jones, which is why his absence was concerning. 

The Minnesota Vikings offense has been a well-oiled machine in 2024 with Aaron Jones, which is why his absence was concerning. When he left the game against the Jets in Week 5, the offense lost momentum, and the question was whether he would be ready for Week 6.

We got an answer to that question on Monday at the Vikings practice.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN shared a video of Aaron Jones dressed for practice and participating as the team prepares for Week 6. His ability to play in the biggest game of the year against the Lions could make a difference for this team.

The offense sputtered without Jones in the second half against the Jets. Both Ty Chandler and Myles Gaskin played in his absence but could never get the offense going as efficiently. Jones’ work out of the backfield in pass protection and as a receiver has been underrated this year.

We will continue to monitor Jones’s status on the week’s first injury report when it is posted on Wednesday.