Vikings Reportedly Knew All Along They Were Never Activating TJ Hockenson Early

This week the Minnesota Vikings will have T.J. Hockenson back on the field. They could have done so against his former team two games ago, but decided to hold him back and make sure his rehabilitated knee as ready as humanly possible, before returning to a game day field.

Nonetheless, it sure would have been nice having Hockenson on the field, especially for an offense that is suddenly finding it more and more difficult to move the ball and punch it into the endzone for six points. A fall in offensive production is one of the main reasons why the Vikings have lost two straight games, and area that T.J. will hopefully help a ton.

The Minnesota Vikings timeline for T.J. Hockenson was always now

But leading up to each of the last two games, the Minnesota Vikings listed T.J. Hockenson as “Questionable” on the team’s official injury reports; designations he carried all the way until hours prior to kickoff, when he was officially scratched.

One day after their Thursday Night Football loss against the Rams, the Vikings activated T.J. Hockenson. It was the final day of his 21-day practice window, and therefore a necessity. But according to Kevin Seifert (ESPN), Hock’s “Questionable” designations were questionable themselves, because head coach Kevin O’Connell, Hockenson and the Minnesota Vikings knew he wasn’t going to play vs the Lions, for sure.

Hockenson began running what appeared to be full-speed routes on a rehabilitation field during training camp, in full view of spectators, spawning external hope that he could return earlier in the season. Internally, however, the Vikings knew it was highly unlikely he would be fully cleared any time before their Week 8 game at the Los Angeles Rams, according to sources. In the end, they held him out of the Rams game to utilize the full 21-day practice window before adding him to their 53-man roster.

Kevin Seifert – ESPN

The Minnesota Vikings utilized different technologies to analyze Hockenson’s practice schedule. The intention was to align his training to a near-identical version of what his healthy teammates were doing. In reality, it was likely they knew last week that he wasn’t going to be a go vs the Rams, either.

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What’s next for Hockenson?

As he now returns to the lineup healthy, Hockenson brings an added dimension to the offense. Much of what Kevin O’Connell has done this far runs through Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones. Secondary pass catching options have been sparsely used, and it has been basically a single-back committee.

The Iowa Hawkeye legend should help open up the middle of the field. No doubt, No 87 presents quarterback Sam Darnold with a tight end like he has never seen before. Hockenson and the Vikings have been dedicated to taking the patient route to his return, which has led to him not being on a snap count vs the Colts.

“I [felt] at seven that I was ready to go out there and start practicing. But that’s another thing that the [medical staff] here has done an incredible job, just being like, ‘Hey, you can’t yet, you can’t yet, it’s not smart.’ They do everything in the best interest of you as a person and not necessarily what you want to do or what you are asking to do.”

T.J. Hockenson on his rehab timeline (ESPN)

TJ Hockenson picking up 25 yards after the catch and taking half of Atlanta's defense with him: pic.twitter.com/eyYlLljcNG

— Nick Olson (@NickOlsonNFL) November 6, 2023

Related: 4 Bold Predictions for Minnesota Vikings’ Week 9 Matchup vs Colts

T.J. Hockenson, who racked up a career-high 960 yards receiving in just 15 games last season, will catch the attention of opposing defenses immediately. How quickly his impact will be felt in the box score remains to be seen, but you can probably bet it won’t take as much patience as his recovery did.