VIKINGS PRO BOWL TE TJ HOCKENSON OUT FOR THE SEASON WITH ACL & MCL TEAR
Minnesota Vikings’ two-time Pro Bowl tight end TJ Hockenson suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament injury this week against the Detroit Lions and is out for the season, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed on Tuesday.
The injury, which also includes a medial collateral ligament (MCL) tear, came in the third quarter when Hockenson was brought to the ground by Lions safety Kerby Joseph, after making a catch in the middle of the field. The 26-year-old exited the game after the play and was quickly ruled out with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reporting that the injury’s outlook was “not good.”
“TJ [Hockenson], I can’t say enough, just looking back on – whether it’d been when we’ve had Kirk [Cousins] go down, JJ go down, some of our guys up front – TJ has been a constant throughout the whole season,” said Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell on Tuesday. “He’s been incredibly tough dealing with some things throughout the year, managing those, working through those, and still being available each and every Sunday to us. I just absolutely love TJ, I love what he is to our organization, I love his toughness like I said.”
Hockenson was the Vikings’ trade acquisition from the Detroit Lions at the start of November last year, and has done a good job of elevating Minnesota’s tight end play in the one and a half years since being acquired. A key piece of the Vikings’ offense going forward, Hockenson is tied up until the end of the 2027 season after signing a four-year, $68.5 million contract extension in August.
“His production, I mean, he’s been wildly, wildly productive all season long – which was my expectation coming into the season” said O’Connell. “Just his role when we are at our best, when we do have Kirk, and we have our full group with JJ, Jordan [Addison], KJ [Osborn], BP, Josh [Oliver] and Johnny [Mundt] to kind of support TJ in that tight end room, it’s a heck of a skill group [on offense].”
“Unfortunately for TJ he’s going to be on the road to recovery and I know he’ll attack that with all the resources we have in this building. And knowing TJ, the type of player he is, I’m absolutely looking forward to when we can get him back rolling and ready to have a great 2024 season.”
Hockenson has been a key piece of the Vikings offense this year especially with injuries to key offensive duo Kirk Cousins and superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson. The former Iowa Hawkeye has been ‘Mr. Reliable’ throughout the season and leads all NFL tight ends in receiving yards with a personal best 960 from just 15 games. Hockenson also recorded a career-high 95 catches along with five touchdowns.
The Iowa native was placed on Injured Reserve on Tuesday, alongside outside linebacker DJ Wonnum, who suffered a torn quad on Sunday.
The Vikings’ loss of Hockenson means the team will now rely primarily on the services of Josh Oliver, who spent last year with the Baltimore Ravens before signing in Minnesota as a free agent. The Vikings’ tight end room also includes 29-year-old Johnny Mundt, and second-year tight end Nick Muse, who will need to put in big rotational performances if Minnesota wants to punch its own ticket into the postseason.
Sunday’s loss to divisional rivals, Detroit, was a huge missed opportunity but the Vikings will have their chance to right their performance in two weeks when they take on the Lions again in Week 18, this time away from home.
The Vikings are just outside the playoff picture looking in and currently hold the no.8 seed in the NFC. At 7-8, Minnesota will need to win out to get in, starting with Green Bay on Sunday Night Football on December 31st, and get some help from other teams in the conference.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Joe Bielawa. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.