With a big game on the horizon, many Minnesota Vikings’ fans are sweating the status of running back Aaron Joes. Jones suffered a hip/hamstring injury stretching in pregame warm ups against the New York Jets in London. He then aggravated it further during the game, thanks to a big hit.
Jones did not practice on Wednesday but was able to log a limited practice reps on Thursday. When speaking to the media, he said he would practice Thursday and Friday and see how he feels for Sunday’s game. While his status is still up in the air, fans got some more good news on Friday morning.
NFL Insider says it’s “likely” Aaron Jones plays against the Detroit Lions
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport (NFL Network), Aaron Jones is “likely” to play vs the Detroit Lions in week 7, which is HUGE news for the Minnesota Vikings, given he averages nearly 1.5 more yards per carry than Ty Chandler, who might be losing his job to Cam Akers.
#Vikings RB Aaron Jones is “LIKELY” to play Sunday against the #Lions, per @RapSheet.
TE T.J. Hockenson situation is murkier and the TNF game against the #Rams seems like “a better target” for his return.
pic.twitter.com/zOqIrno975— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) October 18, 2024
“Let’s get to some of the injuries for this game, really what should be an absolutely awesome game. One that I would say, at this point, is likely to include Aaron Jones the star running back for the Minnesota Vikings… So I would say at this point, likely Aaron Jones is out there.”
Ian Rapoport (NFL Network)
This is really good news that it seems more than likely Jones will be out there on Sunday. It’s one of the biggest games of the year, and the Vikings’ offense looks lost when Jones is not out there.
Forecasting Aaron Jones’ role against the Detroit Lions
We can probably expect the 29-year-old Jones to be limited again in practice on Friday. More than likely, he’ll be “questionable” on the final injury report, heading into the weekend. But given Rapoport report this morning, it looks like we can expect him to be on the field vs Detroit. Will he be limited? That is yet to be seen.
Jones is on pace for the most snaps of his career, by a long shot. According to PFF, he’s already racked up over 163 snaps through five games. His all-time high is 259, in 2022. Something the Minnesota Vikings probably weren’t planning for. The trade for Cam Akers helps significantly in that regard to minimize the wear and tear of the star running back.
Overall, it seems optimistic that we’ll see Jones out their on Sunday. The main question is how many snaps will he play? We’ll find out Sunday, but the good news is the Minnesota Vikings should have their top running back in a big divisional matchup.