{"id":75211,"date":"2023-12-27T06:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-27T06:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=75211"},"modified":"2023-12-27T06:48:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-27T06:48:00","slug":"kevin-oconnell-crushed-by-injury-update-on-vikings-70-million-duo-kieu-linh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/kevin-oconnell-crushed-by-injury-update-on-vikings-70-million-duo-kieu-linh\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin O\u2019Connell \u2018Crushed\u2019 by Injury Update on Vikings\u2019 $70 Million Duo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Week 16 proved to be even more costly for the Minnesota Vikings than it seemed in the immediate aftermath of the game.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1817676224-e1703653128372.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota Vikings\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did confirm with DJ Wonnum that he did sustain a tear to his quad. He will be going on injured reserve and we\u2019ll have that surgically repaired, hopefully, this week,\u201d Head Coach Kevin O\u2019Connell said via the team on December 26. \u201cT.J. Hockenson, as well, did sustain an MCL and ACL injury. He will go on IR as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Connell said he was \u201ccrushed\u201d over the loss of two of their \u201cmost impactful players\u201d and \u201cleaders,\u201d adding that their absences would be difficult to overcome.<\/p>\n<p>Hockenson and Wonnum combined account for $70 million in total salary. But they count just $7.9 million against the cap this season, per Spotrac. That highlights just how much value they were providing for the Vikings this season.<\/p>\n<p>Hockenson left the Vikings\u2019 eventual 30-24 loss to the Detroit Lions in the third quarter.<\/p>\n<p>He caught a pass from Nick Mullens that gained 24 yards and a first down. But he took a direct hit to the knee from Lions safety Kerby Joseph. He jogged to the sideline, never to return in the 30-24 loss.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">TJ Hockenson &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Concern over his right knee, which was hit by the defender as he planted.<\/p>\n<p>Concern for MCL, but hopefully not ACL. Those direct hits into the knees can be bad news.<\/p>\n<p>Hoping we get an update soon <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qhWnjnlMa2\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/qhWnjnlMa2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jmthrivept\/status\/1739011631345188964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">December 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cT.J., I can\u2019t say enough,\u201d O\u2019Connell said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just absolutely love T.J. and love what he is to our organization. \u2026 Unfortunately for T.J., he\u2019s you know going to be on the road to recovery, and I know he\u2019ll attack that with all the resources we have in this building. And knowing T.J., the type of player he is, I\u2019m absolutely looking forward to when we can get him back rolling and ready to have a great 2024 season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former Lion, Hockenson, is in the first year of a four-year, $66 million contract.<\/p>\n<p>He will finish the season with career-high marks of 95 receptions for 960 yards and was on track to set a new career high in receiving touchdowns, hauling in six already.<\/p>\n<h2>Kevin O\u2019Connell: DJ Wonnum a \u2018True Impact Player\u2019 for Vikings<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1880594351-1-e1703653474615.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"DJ Wonnum, Minnesota Vikings\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Wonnum went down in the fourth quarter of the game. He immediately grabbed his knee, eventually making his way to the cart and back to the locker room amid an outpouring of support from both sides.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Connell praised Wonnum\u2019s versatility and looked fondly on the times they were able to get him on the field with Danielle Hunter and Marcus Davenport. He did note that injuries limited those opportunities, though.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDJ Wonnum to me has been one of our true impact players this year, and a guy that has made a lot of critical plays that helped us win a lot of football games and really stay as competitive as we have,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cDJ\u2019s been one of those guys that his improvement and his impact uh has been critical for our team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota selected Wonnum in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. The fourth-year man was on pace to set a new career high in sacks with 8.0 this season, matching his mark originally set in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>He also has six passes deflected, one fumble recovery, and one touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>Wonnum is in the final year of his four-year, $4 million rookie contract, and was set to be one of the top edge defenders in free agency this coming offseason.<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Connell also updated the statuses of several other key players.<\/p>\n<h2>Vikings Trio \u2018Questionable for Week 17 vs Packers<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/GettyImages-1845796180-1-e1703653575374.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Brian O'Neill, Minnesota Vikings\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cJordan Addison and Mekhi Blackmon will be kind of more in the day-to-day world this week. Both are feeling better and better here early on,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see how they do with their treatments and their rehab and what their availability throughout the week will look like.\u201d But not ready to say anything more than they\u2019re both questionable for the game this week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Addison left the game with just under three minutes to go in the third quarter. He filled in admirably for Justin Jefferson when the latter missed several weeks with a hamstring injury. Blackmon exited in the third quarter trying to defend a Jared Goff pass to Kalif Raymond.<\/p>\n<p>Addison and Blackmon were the Vikings\u2019 first two picks in this year\u2019s draft. They were selected with the No. 23 and No. 102 selections, respectively.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m hoping to get Brian O\u2019Neill back in there,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cHe\u2019ll progress throughout week. He\u2019ll be questionable as well and there\u2019s some other guys as well that we\u2019ll, hopefully, work through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Neill has missed the last two weeks with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n<p>The Vikings have notably managed their third and fourth-highest yardage totals of the season in those two games. They even saw Ty Chandler have the first 100-yard game by any back this season in Week 15 versus the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n<p>This season has been marred by catastrophic losses. Getting back one of the Week 1 starters would undoubtedly be a needed boost down the stretch.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Week 16 proved to be even more costly for the Minnesota Vikings than it seemed in the immediate aftermath of the game. \u201cWe did confirm with DJ&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}