Recent Vikings news bodes well for T.J. Hockenson vs. Bears on Sunday

On Sunday, T.J. Hockenson will be suiting up for his fourth game of the season when the Minnesota Vikings take on the Chicago Bears. After sitting out the first half of Minnesota's schedule to fully recover from a torn ACL, Hockenson returned to the field in Week 9, and his performances so far have been mediocre at best.

However, this has the potential to change on Sunday in Chicago following the Vikings' announcement on Friday that tight end Josh Oliver has already been ruled out for the matchup. Oliver didn't practice at all for Minnesota this week as he's currently dealing with injuries to both his wrist and ankle.

With this news, Hockenson and Johnny Mundt are currently the only healthy tight ends on the Vikings' active roster heading into this weekend. To make up for Oliver's loss, Minnesota will likely turn to veteran tight end Robert Tonyan, who is currently on the team's practice squad, or activate Nick Muse from injured reserve before Sunday.

Minnesota Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson still looking for first road touchdown vs. the Chicago Bears

Before landing with the Vikings in the middle of the 2022 season, Hockenson spent his first three years in the NFL as a member of the Detroit Lions. Since the Lions are also part of the NFC North division, the veteran tight end has faced the Bears on the road several times during his career.

In five career road games against Chicago, Hockenson has averaged 4.2 catches and 47.8 receiving yards per contest, and he's never caught a touchdown inside the Bears' home stadium. He did find the end zone when Minnesota took on Chicago in Week 12 last season, but that game was played inside U.S. Bank Stadium.

That first road touchdown against the Bears might not happen this year, though. Heading into Sunday, Chicago has only given up one receiving touchdown to opposing tight ends this season, and that happened all the way back in Week 1.

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