Aaron Jones Injury Update
Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. suffered a hamstring injury in the second quarter of Week 2’s “Sunday Night Football” loss to the Atlanta Falcons and has now been placed on injured reserve, meaning he’ll miss at least the next four games while recovering, hardly the news Minnesota wanted after an already bumpy home opener with just 78 yards on the ground. Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) reported on Twitter that the Vikings have placed running back Aaron Jones on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, sidelining him for at least four weeks.
Jones Sr., who looked razor sharp in the season’s opening win over the Bears and, if you blinked, he was gone for 23 rushing yards, 44 receiving yards, and a touchdown before anyone could even start complaining about fantasy football, was forced out of Sunday night’s matchup, leaving fans groaning (and maybe eating their feelings) by halftime.
Thirty years old, fast out of the backfield, a former Packer with a stat line last year that would make any Wisconsinite nostalgic: 1,138 rushing yards and five rushing TDs, 408 receiving yards, two receiving TDs.Jones Sr. is more than just a committee back, even if he’s not quite the workhorse he used to be.
Once he left the field, the lack of run game was glaring; the Vikings had to lean on Jordan Mason, who’d already been getting plenty of work after joining the team this offseason, and just to be sure they don’t run out of dudes who can hit a hole, Minnesota went ahead and re-signed Cam Akers for insurance, Adam Schefter confirmed. What’s next? Unless he’s got a magic hamstring (and given the way things have gone over nine seasons only three of which have been full slates, no one’s expecting miracles), Jones will be sitting for the next four contests: Bengals, Steelers, Browns, a bye, then Eagles.
The Vikings, ever the cautious types, don’t plan to rush him back, understanding that for a 30-year-old runner, pushing a hamstring means risking even longer stretches on the sideline. For anyone hoping for a heroic return, it might not come until late October, assuming everything heals to plan and Jones Sr. doesn’t get bit by the injury bug again. In the meantime, fans, coaches, and anyone who drafted him in fantasy all have to wait and hope Mason (plus Akers) can keep the ship afloat until the Vikings’ star playmaker is ready to ride again.
