T.J. Hockenson's imminent return from injury has Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell gushing over his abilities

The passing game for the Minnesota Vikings has been intermittent this season. They have generated some explosive plays and won quarterback Sam Darnold NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September but it's seen its share of struggles.

Now, all of those struggles aren't on the players on the field. A lot of it has to do with those who weren't able to get on the field. The Vikings have been without T.J. Hockenson for all five games and have missed wide receiver Jordan Addison for a total of nine quarters and wide receiver Justin Jefferson for most of the second half against the San Francisco 49ers.

Those injury issues are hopefully behind the Vikings once they come out of the bye week.

Kevin O'Connell explains T.J. Hockenson's role

There has been a ton of discussion when Hockenson would return to the Vikings in his journey back from the torn ACL he suffered last Christmas Eve against the Detroit Lions. Oddly enough, Hockenson's first game back might be in the same stadium against the team that injured him.

How Hockenson will be integrated into the offense is still up in the air and it was something that head coach Kevin O'Connell was asked about in his weekly press conference on Tuesday.

"He just provides such an incredible asset in the interior of our past game. How he works in conjunction with our wide receivers, or maybe Aaron Jones and out of the backfield, where we could truly see the weapons that that we kind of envisioned once we fully got healthy and got TJ back there. I think Josh Oliver (and) Johnny Mundt have both done a really nice job. Josh's consistent force in the run game and showing up a little bit here and there in the past game as well. And Johnny will still play a role also, which has been critical to us in TJ's absence.

"So you guys, I've been very vocal about my confidence in that tight end room, not only as we've been operating, but getting one of the top players, in my opinion, at the position back is always going to be a jolt for your offense. And especially with how we've built our system, really, since TJs arrived here, going back to 2022 when he arrived mid season, like he did and immediately made an impact was a huge part of our offense, continuing to be able to move the ball last year, despite the turmoil at the quarterback position, or not having Justin or J A (Jordan Addison) for, you know, chunks of time throughout the season. So it was obviously unfortunate to lose them late in the year like we did. But I've been very excited about the possibility of getting TJs skill set back in our offense, and it will be something that I think should be a real positive for us."

How quickly Hockenson gets integrated into the offense will be an interesting one. O'Connell made it clear that both Oliver and Mundt will continue to be involved in the offense but how much they will be involved will be determined by how comfortable they are playing Hockenson early on with him being less than nine months removed from his ACL surgery.

When he does end up returning, which is likely going to be against the Lions in less than two weeks, He will be a major impact on the passing game, which could use someone to attach the shallow part of the middle of the field.

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