Report: Vikings' Aaron Jones 'likely' to play vs. Lions this week

It sounds like Jones will probably be out there for this weekend's huge game.

Sep 22, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) in action during the game against the Houston Texans at U.S. Bank Stadium. / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Vikings star running back Aaron Jones (hamstring) is probably playing on Sunday against the Lions, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapaport.

"Should be an absolutely awesome game, one that I would say at this point is likely to include Aaron Jones, the star running back for the Minnesota Vikings," Rapaport said on Good Morning Football. "Went down with, thought it was a hip injury, turns out it was a hamstring injury. Obviously they had the bye week last week, that helped. ... It does seem like it's in a good place, so I would say at this point, likely Aaron Jones is out there."

Jones didn't practice on Wednesday but was able to get in a limited session on Thursday. The safe assumption is that he'll be limited again on Friday and go into the weekend listed as questionable, but it'll be worth keeping an eye on the Vikings' final injury report to confirm that. It sounds like if there are no setbacks on Friday or in pregame warmups on Sunday, Jones should be good to go for the massive NFC North showdown against Detroit.

On Wednesday, Jones told reporters that the injury dates back to pregame warmups before the London game. He tried to play through it in that game but wound up leaving in the second quarter after taking a hit.

"I kind of felt it a little bit before the game," Jones said. "Got hit on a play, felt like my foot kind of got caught, and that was the end of it for me that week. They were like 'Hey, let's not make it any worse. We want you out there, we want to have you for the long run, so it's not worth going back out there right now.'"

Jones said that he spent the bye week getting a wide range of treatments done, which helped.

If he does end up playing, one imagines the Vikings may not want him to wind up with 24-26 touches like he did against the Texans and Packers. They're probably not going to keep him on a strict snap count, but expect to see Ty Chandler and Cam Akers mixed in as well in an effort to get Jones through the game unscathed.

Jones, 29, has 517 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns this season. The eighth-year veteran is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.