Injured Vikings RB Aaron Jones missed on offense in London

Minnesota Vikings RB Aaron Jones Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Injured Vikings RB Aaron Jones was missed on offense during London win

By Tyler Miller | Last updated 10/10/24

Aaron Jones was a new addition to the Minnesota Vikings this season, after playing his first seven campaigns in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers.

The Vikings signed Jones to a one-year, $7-million deal over the offseason. He has not put up fantastic numbers yet, but is a crucial part of his new team's offense.

Through five games this season, Jones has 71 carries for 350 yards and one touchdown. He is a massive upgrade over former Vikings running back Alexander Mattison.

Playing in London this past weekend, Jones went down with a hip injury in Week 5 against the New York Jets and was quickly ruled out.

Vikings now consider RB Aaron Jones week to week with his hip injury. Minnesota has a bye this week.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2024

Backup Ty Chandler and third-stringer Myles Gaskin really could not generate much after Jones suffered his injury, combining to take 16 carries for 32 yards. That's awful. Jones, a north-south runner, knows how to find the holes that the offensive line creates for him and is averaging 4.93 yards per carry.

Chandler is more than capable of handling the carries on offense in his absence but needs to step up. He did a very good job last season when he took over the main rushing duties late in the season for Mattison, finishing 2023-24 having rushed for 461 yards (4.5 YPC) on 102 totes of the rock.

He has the potential and head coach Kevin O'Connell believes in him, but he seriously needs to prove it if Jones misses a game or two.

The Vikings have a bye week this week — which will give Jones more time to heal — but at this current moment his status for the team's Week 7 game against the Detroit Lions is up in the air. The Lions are ranked fourth in the league in rushing yards allowed per game with 90.8 and Chandler is only rushing for an average of 3.5 yards a carry, that is not going to cut it against a run defense like the Lions.

The Lions have a lot of good defenders like Aidan Hutchinson, Jack Campbell, Malcolm Rodriguez and Brian Branch who know how to stop the run and will shut down Chandler if Jones cannot go. And when Jones went down with his injury, the Vikings lost trust in their running game.

The Vikings better hope that Jones is back sooner rather than later, because if not, the offense could really struggle.

More must-reads: