Aaron Jones likes that the Vikings are flying under the radar this year

Jones: "Eventually, they will be talking about us."
Aaron Jones during an offseason workout with the Vikings.
Aaron Jones during an offseason workout with the Vikings. / Image courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
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Heading into the 2024 season, there's very little buzz around this Vikings team. With Kirk Cousins gone, J.J. McCarthy injured, and the three other teams in the NFC North generating all kinds of hype, Minnesota is a bit of a forgotten team from a national perspective.

Their Vegas win total is low. You have to scroll down a ways to find them in any media power rankings. These Vikings, despite all the talent they've developed and added up and down the roster, aren't expected to do much of anything this year, largely because their quarterback is Sam Darnold.

That's just fine with the players in the locker room at TCO Performance Center.

"I'm super excited," running back Aaron Jones said on NFL Network's Good Morning Football. "We have all the weapons we need in this locker room. We're right where we want to be, with nobody talking about us. Because at the end of the day, we're the ones who hold the pen and have the final say of who they're talking about. We're just going to make sure that, when we step on the field, you guys have good things to say about us. Eventually, they will be talking about us."

Jones came over to the Vikings this offseason after seven seasons with the Packers, where his teams made the playoffs five times and won three games. Green Bay was a perennial contender with Aaron Rodgers, but last year, they flew under the radar in the first year with Jordan Love at QB. They wound up making the playoffs and blowing out the higher-seeded Cowboys in the first round before falling just short of reaching the NFC title game.

It's a lot like how it was last year for me," Jones said. "I like our team being in that position."

The Vikings' quest to prove everyone wrong begins on Sunday against the Giants at MetLife Stadium.

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Will Ragatz

WILL RAGATZ