TJ Hockenson Injury Timeline Being Pushed Back by Vikings Again…?

The Minnesota Vikings will play against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. As has been the case all season, TJ Hockenson will not be on the active roster. The former Iowa Hawkeye continues his knee rehabilitation process, following in-season surgery in 2023.

From the very beginning, we knew it would be difficult for Hockenson to return to the Vikings game day roster, before the start of the 2024 season. He completely blew out his knee on a low hit from Detroit Lions CB Kirby Joseph. That kind of recovery timeline takes patience.

Once he got going with his rehab, though, TJ Hockenson was looking really good. So good, that reporters and fans couldn’t help but wonder if he was ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, he then suffered a setback prior to the start of the season. That made him a lock for the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, coming out of training camp.

TJ Hockenson injury timeline looks like it’s being pushed back

By league rules, a preseason PUP designation means the injured player cannot return to the active roster until, at the earliest, week four. That makes TJ Hockenson eligible to return to Minnesota Vikings practice on Monday.

Saturday, Adam Schefter (ESPN) confirmed previous reports that TJ is nearing a return to the practice. Unfortunately, Schefty also added that the 27-year-old, 2x Pro Bowl tight end won’t be playing games anytime soon. In fact, we may not see Hockenson until week 8 or 9 now, apparently.

So, this is not the best news. But, let’s stay positive. Barring another setback, TJ Hockenson’s return timeline is starting to look more concrete. The PUP list practice window is 21 days long. If the Minnesota Vikings were to trigger that window on Monday, they’d have to activate him to the 53-man roster by Monday, October 21.

What does this mean for the Minnesota Vikings?

As Schefter notes in his tweet, that would put Hockenson in line to play that Thursday, October 24, vs the Los Angeles Chargers. If not, TJ should reportedly be ready to go week 9 (November 3) vs the Indianapolis Colts.

That means, what the Vikings do this week with TJ, at practice, will be a huge hint toward their plans for his eventual return on game day. If they do not activate the $16.5 million/yr tight end tomorrow (or Tuesday), it would tell us that they probably plan to wait until week 9, in Indy, before putting TJ Hockenson in harm’s way.

While this is somewhat disappointing, perspective matters. The Minnesota Vikings are way better than we expected. Given their 3-0 start, what’s most important is their star tight end being healthy for the last quarter of the season, and (hopefully) into the playoffs.