Hearts of Minnesota Vikings fans sank this past Saturday after reports began to come out of the team's training camp that Pro Bowl tight end T.J. Hockenson had to end his day early due to an injury.
On Monday, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell shared an injury update about Hockenson and some other players, saying that "they're all dealing with some day-to-day normal training camp bumps and bruises. No issues whatsoever."
When it came to what specific type of injury Hockenson is currently dealing with, O'Connell described it as a "hip, leg, back [injury]. Whatever you want to classify that." Fantasy analysts were definitely so thankful for that super detailed update from Minnesota's head coach.
Minnesota Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson escapes concerning injury (for now)
Since it is the preseason and teams are not required to disclose any specifics about player injuries to the media, just about everything injury-related must be taken with a grain of salt. This even goes for what O'Connell said on Monday, despite the optimistic tone in which it was delivered.
Given the uncertainty with injuries in the NFL during this time of the year, sometimes it's better to use a team's actions to gauge how severe a player's injury might be.
So, with the Vikings signing free-agent tight end Nick Vannett on Monday, that could be a move that was made in response to Hockenson's injury and how long the team expects him to be sidelined. Minnesota rookie tight end Gavin Bartholomew is also still on the team's physically unable to perform list, so at the very least, the addition of Vannett was made to improve the depth of the position group.
Unfortunately for Vikings fans, Hockenson was held out of the team's night practice on Monday. His status for Minnesota's 2025 preseason opener against the Houston Texans on Saturday is currently unknown, but if he doesn't practice for the rest of the week, don't expect him to suit up for this weekend's exhibition contest.
So, O'Connell certainly did his best on Monday to make it seem like Hockenson's injury is nothing to worry about. Whether or not that turns out to be the truth still remains to be seen.