The window is officially ready to open
While the Minnesota Vikings have been solid on offense even without star tight end T.J. Hockenson through the first three weeks of the 2024 NFL season, it would be really nice if the team could get him back before too much longer. It sounds like we could be getting closer to that happening.
Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson, coming off a major knee injury of his own, also is nearing a return to practice. The most likely return-to-play dates for Hockenson currently are the Thursday night, Oct 24 game in Los Angeles, or the following week’s home game against the Colts. https://t.co/TEEMCbA8si
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 29, 2024
Today marks the fourth of the four games that Hockenson is mandated to miss after having started the season on the team’s Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List. That means the team can open his practice window at any time after today, and Adam Schefter of ESPN is reporting that the Vikings could be getting ready to do just that.
To review how the PUP procedures work, once the Vikings designate Hockenson for return, they have 21 days to decide whether or not to put him onto the active roster. During that time, he can start practicing with the team again. . .when you’re on the PUP List, all you’re allowed to do is rehab work. which is what Hockenson has been doing since the start of training camp.
If the Vikings were to declare Hockenson was ready to return from the PUP List on Monday, they would have until Monday, 21 October to put him on the active roster. They would not be mandated to use the entire three weeks. Theoretically, they could declare him ready to return on Monday and put him back on the active roster on Tuesday, though that would be highly unlikely.
If the Vikings were to open Hockenson’s practice window on Monday and take the full 21 days to make their decision, he would miss the Vikings’ game against the New York Jets in London next week and their home game against his former team, the Detroit Lions, on Sunday, 20 October. The Vikings have their Week 6 bye between those two games. As Schefter mentions, the Vikings would then have a short week before flying out to Los Angeles to take on the Rams on Thursday Night Football, which would be the first game Hockenson would be eligible for if the team takes their full three weeks before activating him.
All of the indications to this point have been that Hockenson has been making very good progress in rehabbing the knee injury he suffered at the end of last season. As much as we’d all like to see what he can add to an offense that’s already humming along quite nicely, I think that we should expect to see the Vikings be prudent with him as they’ve been with other injuries over the past couple of seasons.