Aaron Jones Injury Update: Vikings RB Keeps Thursday Practice Promise

Aaron Jones is a big deal to the Minnesota Vikings. He is 100% necessary in making Kevin O’Connell’s offense work as it is supposed to. Unfortunately, his status for Sunday’s massive matchup vs the Detroit Lions is up in the air, thanks to a hamstring/hip injury that he suffered in London vs the New York Jets.

Aaron Jones joins Minnesota Vikings practice

After sitting out Wednesday, Jones told reporters he was going to try practicing on Thursday, to see how it felt. Then, he and the team’s medical staff would decide how to move forward from there.

Obviously, Friday’s injury report will tell us a lot more about his chances to suit up for this weekend’s divisional bout. But true to his word, Aaron Jones was out on the TCO Performance Center practice fields this afternoon.

How much do the Minnesota Vikings need Aaron Jones on the field Sunday? Well, they just traded for Cam Akers. at this point, that was clearly a move to add depth behind Jones. If the team was worried about him long-term, there’s no way he would be on the practice field today.

Vikings rely on Jones… a lot

A quick look at the numbers tells the same story the Vikings did when they pulled off the trade for Akers. Aaron Jones has a 4.9 YPC average. The closest behind him is Ty Chandler’s 3.5 YPC… which is only .4 YPC more than QB Sam Darnold.

Related: NFL Insider Picks Lions to Beat Spread vs Vikings… and That’s a Good Thing

But today is about good news, because when the injury report drops momentarily, Aaron Jones will be listed as a participant of some sort. That’s the best news that could have come out of Thursday’s practice, especially given how grim his status vs Detroit looked just a day or two ago.

More must-reads:

• Updated Minnesota Vikings Injury Report: Multiple DNPs Return to Practice
• NFL Insider Picks Lions to Beat Spread vs Vikings… and That’s a Good Thing
• Kevin O’Connell Brings ‘One of Us’ NFL Network Host to Tears with Vikings Invitation