Former Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones is heading to injured reserve with a hamstring injury, according to ESPN and the NFL Network.
The Minnesota Vikings running back, as a result, will be out a minimum of four weeks. The update comes two days after he left the Vikings’ Week 2 game with the injury.
It’s a tough break for Jones, who is coming off a season in which he played in every game for the third time in his career. He also set career highs in rushing yards and carries.
Aaron Jones injury update
Jones, 30, left the Vikings’ Week 2 “Sunday Night Football” game against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter and didn’t return.
Up until that point, though, he had just five carries for 23 yards and no receptions on one target as the Vikings’ offense couldn’t get into gear all night in a 22-6 home loss.
Hamstring injuries can linger but he wasn’t put on season-ending IR, meaning he can return after four weeks. If he’s healthy, Jones should be back for the Vikings’ first of two matchups against the Packers in Week 12 on Sunday, Nov. 23, at Lambeau Field.
A hamstring injury isn’t new for Jones. He missed six games during the 2023 season with hamstring and knee injuries.
Aaron Jones stats
It’s been a bit slow going for Jones in his second season with the Vikings. He has 46 yards on 13 carries and zero touchdowns. He did have a receiving TD in the Vikings’ Week 1 comeback win over the Chicago Bears.
In 17 games in 2024, Jones posted career highs in both carries (255) and yards (1,138).
His five rushing touchdowns were also the most since the 2020 season. He caught 51 passes for 408 yards, the second highest of his career, to go with two receiving TDs.
Who is Aaron Jones’ backup?
With Jones out for at least the next four weeks, fourth-year pro Jordan Mason will be elevated to the top of the Vikings’ depth chart.
Mason was already getting the most production. In two games, the 26-year-old has 24 carries for 98 yards. He led the team in carries in both Weeks 1 and 2. Mason is in his first season with the Vikings after playing the first three years of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers.
He had a career-high 153 carries and 789 yards and three touchdowns in 2024.
The Vikings are also expected to sign a familiar face in veteran running back Cam Akers to their practice squad, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Akers has been with teh Vikings in each of the last two seasons. He was traded from the Houston Texans to the Vikings for the final 12 games of the 2024 season. He also played in six games with the Vikings in 2023. Akers, who has suffered two Achilles tears in his career, was released by the New Orleans Saints during roster cuts at the end of August.
Vikings schedule
At a minimum, Jones will be out for the Vikings game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3 and the team’s back-to-back international games, Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland, and Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns in London, England. The Vikings then have a Bye in Week 5.
The first game Jones could return is Oct. 19 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Aaron Jones on the Packers
The Packers let Jones walk in free agency in 2024, instead choosing to sign Josh Jacobs.
Jones, picked by the Packers in the fifth round of the 2017 draft out of the University of Texas at El Paso, played seven seasons in Green Bay.
And he left as one of the most prolific running backs in franchise history. Jones’ 5,940 rushing yards are third most in team history behind only Ahman Green and Jim Taylor. His 45 rushing touchdowns are fourth most behind Taylor, Green and Paul Hornung.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former Packers running back Aaron Jones placed on injured reserve with hamstring injury, reports say
Reporting by Christopher Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
