Vikings officially start T.J. Hockenson's return from injury

The Minnesota Vikings have officially activated tight end T.J. Hockenson 's 21-day practice window to start his return timeline from his torn ACL injury.

Hockenson will be able to practice for the next 21 days and the Vikings will have to make a decision to activate him or keep him on the physically unable to perform list. The Vikings started his practice window on Friday because they have a Thursday night game three weeks from yesterday in week eight against the Los Angeles Rams.

It's a positive development that Hockenson is set to return to practice so soon after he had surgery to repair his torn ACL on January 26th. That was a month and two days after he suffered the injury against the Detroit Lions on Christmas Eve in a low hit by safety Kerby Joseph.

The Vikings are getting Hockenson back right now, which is a great thing. They have done really well without him with Johnny Mundt and Josh Oliver stepping up in a big way. However, they could use a weapon up the seam to continue taking pressure off of Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. Plus, Hockenson is a true dual-threat at tight end, as he can block extremely well in the running game.

The likely return date is in week seven against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium, where the injury occurred on the first drive in the third quarter.

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