The Minnesota Vikings emerged from the bye week with a perfect 5-0 record, and there are many players who have made it happen. While the award doesn't exist after five games, discussing the Vikings’ MVP through the opening weeks of the season is an interesting one. It would also include a dark horse: Aaron Jones.
Jones has stepped up in a big way after Jordan Mason was sidelined with a thumb fracture, taking the lead running back role in the four games he missed. But Jones’s value becomes more apparent as ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported that Jones has been playing through most of the season with a sprained MCL.
Set to turn 32 in December, Jones is likely welcoming back Mason after his window to return to practice was opened this week. But it also continues to show why Minnesota brought him back and why he’s been one of the biggest contributors to the Vikings’ fast start.
Vikings have Aaron Jones to thank for keeping their running game afloat
The Vikings spent most of the offseason touting their revamped running game and saw benefits during the season-opening win over the Green Bay Packers.
While Minnesota ran just 3.1 yards per carry in the win, a 28-yard run by Mason set up a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. But it also came at a cost, as Mason suffered a thumb fracture that would land him on IR.
Jones was naturally the next in line to be the Vikings’ lead back, but as a veteran, it was unknown how much of a workload he would carry in Mason’s absence. Those plans got even murkier when Jones injured his knee during the Week 2 win over the Chicago Bears.
The injury threw the Vikings into a small crisis. Seifert noted that Jones had suffered the same injury twice during his time with the Green Bay Packers but was forced to miss time on both occasions.
The Vikings also had few solutions behind Jones, as rookie Demond Claiborne is “not yet ready for regular work,” and DeeJay Dallas was “earmarked mostly for special teams.”
Nobody would have blamed Jones if he needed time to recover after the adrenaline wore off in Chicago. Instead, he took 90 percent of the Vikings' carries at running back and 81 percent of the team’s overall offensive snaps in the four games that Mason was out.
That included matching a career-high that Jones had set in 2019 with 25 carries in the Week 5 win over the New Orleans Saints and overcoming an early fumble to finish with 113 yards and a touchdown.
“It’s hard to even put into words,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said of Jones’s performance.
"Just the toughness, the way he’s been able to turn over after a high volume of carries and get to a place by the next Sunday with a lot of work, a lot of time in the recovery room, and knowing his body like he does.
He’s just been an absolute pro. He’s been a warrior, and I’m just so thankful that we have Aaron Jones on our team.”
Aaron Jones has become one of the Vikings’ most valuable players this season
With Mason potentially returning against the Colts, Jones will go back into a “1B” role. But his performance with Mason out still carries weight.
The Vikings' offense has struggled to find its footing as injuries to Kyler Murray, Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw, Donovan Jackson, and T.J. Hockenson threw them off track. But amid the chaos, Jones was the one constant, willing to shoulder the load while playing through a significant injury.
It also kept the constant threat of a running game within the Vikings' offense as teams looked to stop explosive plays through the air, which kept the chains moving and lessened the load on Minnesota’s defense.
Jones didn’t need to win over the locker room over the last four weeks. But his performance sent a message to a team that is looking to make sure its 5-0 record isn’t another fast start that dissolves.
It’s a sign that this team may be different from its predecessors and that Jones is playing a key role in helping them continue to compete in a wide-open NFC race.
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