Vikings Injury Focus Shifts to 1 New Player

Tight end T.J. Hockenson had been tasked with doing more work due to the absence of Josh Oliver and Justin Jefferson in recent weeks.

Unfortunately, the Vikings injury focus has shifted to him.

Early in the game, Hockenson caught a pass that ended up leaving him crunched on the field. The game broadcast showed a tough tackle that involved the pass catcher seeing his head hit the ground awkwardly and hard. He didn’t return. Kevin O’Connell confirmed after the game that the TE1 is now in the concussion protocol.

Vikings Injury Focus Shifts to T.J. Hockenson

Part of what makes Kyler Murray a fascinating playing to watch is that he’s clearly comfortable targeting his tight ends.

In fact, Murray went after his depth tight ends commonly in yesterday’s win over the Saints. Sophomore 6th-Round tight end Gavin Bartholomew — the player who missed his entire rookie season to injury — finished his day with 6 targets for 5 catches and 33 yards.

Meanwhile, Ben Yurosek got worked into the mix, doing so even as somebody who is fresh off the IR. He turned his single target into a catch for 10 yards.

Go ahead and add it all together.

Murray threw the ball 30 times. Combining all of the targets for Hockenson, Bartholomew, and Yurosek means the seeing the simple acknowledgement that 8 passes went toward the tight end position. That’s a rate coming in at better than 25% despite working with depth options the great majority of the time.

Oh, and another thing: the single missed pass involving Murray to the tight ends came on that trick play that was oh-so-close to getting completed. Was that play supposed to go toward T.J. Hockenson?

The veteran TE1 had his contract reworked during the offseason to remain in the Twin Cities. Per Over the Cap, Hockenson is down to demanding $15,605,000 on the cap before getting set free in 2027 (but with the cost of leaving behind $7,110,000 as dead money next season). So, at least in theory, Mr. Hockenson should be ultra-motivated to shine since he’s chasing down yet another huge payday.

His stats for 2026 shows 23 catches for 202 yards and 1 touchdown. The 8.8 yards-per-reception average isn’t great but that’s partly a byproduct of the role that Minnesota has put in front of him. On a few occasions, Hockenson has shown an ability to show off some wiggle down the field.

Thankfully for the Vikings, T.J. Hockenson will now work into the bye week to get back to full health. He’ll be joined by other players — Jordan Addison, Jordan Mason, Christian Darrisaw — who are likely to return for Week 7.

The 5-0 Vikings are an ascending yet achy football team. The football folks around Minnesota are hoping that the week off will lead to the Vikings being an ascending and healthy football team.

Look for Hockenson, 29, to continue being featured once back to full health.

Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.