Matthew Coller: Behind T.J. Hockenson's rehab was data, reading and patience

It's been a long road back for Hockenson as he prepares to return this week.

Nov 27, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson (87) drops a pass during the second quarter as Chicago Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon (6) defends at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

EAGAN — When an NFL player suffers a season-ending injury, we take for granted that they will be back the following season as good as new. We don’t often think much about the work that goes into the recovery process.

For Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson, coming back from an ACL tear that he suffered late last season has been a long journey from surgery to recovery to ramping back up in order to contribute on a highly-competitive team.

As the Vikings get set to face the Indianapolis Colts on a national TV stage, Hockenson is finally ready to pick up where he left off.

“I've been feeling great,” Hockenson said. “Just detailing stuff up and trying to get ready to roll.”

Where he left off was at the top of the NFL’s heap of tight ends. In 15 games, he caught 95 passes for 960 yards and five touchdowns. But his terrific season was abruptly ended when Detroit safety Kerby Joseph hit him low on a pass over the middle of the field. That happened on December 24, 2023. He wasn’t able to have surgery until January 29th because his injured MCL had to heal before the surgery could take place.

It takes a village to help a player back from a severe injury. Hockenson had his surgery in Los Angeles with renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache and then spent his recovery working with physical therapists at his home in Nashville. Vikings trainer Tyler Williams communicated with Dr. ElAttrache and associate head trainer Matt Duhamel visited him in the summer as he started getting on a field and working on his route running again. He got check-ins from the Vikings’ brass and owners along the way.

“When you're going through an injury like that you really find out who's on your side and the Vikings were there every single step of the way you know from the beginning,” Hockenson said.

Once he arrived for camp, he was only allowed to work out on a different field from where the rest of the players were practicing. It’s a lonely existence to be rehabbing day after day, particularly for a player who gets such joy out of the game. But, oddly enough, the data that the Vikings used to track his progress gave him something to compete against on a daily basis.

“They put trackers on me every single step of the way and they've had speeds from when I played last year and I was healthy,” Hockenson explained. “Being able to come out here and run straight lines, run my routes, track that data in our stuff, and being able to see how many yards you're getting, see how many explosive yards you're getting, how many [decelarations] you're getting. All that kind of stuff has been incredible to see, and it really keeps you on track. It pushes you every single day.”

Hockenson would aim to match the workloads of players who were taking part in normal camp practices. 1,500 yards, 2,000 yards, 3,500 yards, 15 accelerations, 15 decelerations. Day after day in July and August.

The Vikings staff didn’t want to just tell him what to do throughout the process, they also wanted him to have his own involvement in the drills. They asked him: What would make him feel more confident? He laid out previous things that he had done in the past that helped him improve his explosiveness.

“Stuff that I've done in the past that has helped me get explosion in and out of route, get speed off the line, that kind of stuff that not everybody would do,” Hockenson said. “Not everybody has the ego to [let him his his own drills]. These guys have been incredible with that giving me some power to to be able to push what I need.”

The team’s video guys would tape Hockenson running routes so he could watch himself back and study his progress and details. They also sent video of his progress to Dr. ElAttrache to get his take on how everything looked in motion.

All of that has kept the Vikings’ Pro Bowl tight end busy during his rehab but recovering from an injury also comes along with a lot of down time. Hockenson spent his extra recovery moments reading and reflecting.

“It's been fun to go back and really learn about yourself and have a little time to just reflect on what you've done and where you want to go,” Hockenson said. “I've been reading ‘Pound the Rock,’… that's something that we read actually at Iowa….been reading ‘Can't Hurt Me,’ ..going back to Iowa… that was a book that talked about every day, trying to do everything that you can. Anything you do is everything you do. And just kind of learning from that and kind of going back to the baseline of where things started for me.”

Once the games began, Hockenson got himself an ear piece and listened to Kevin O’Connell call the plays. He worked with the other tight ends Johnny Mundt and Josh Oliver to help them understand the TE1 role better.

“I've been trying to be part of it but it's not like it is when you're in the huddle,” Hockenson said.

When he does get in the huddle, how will the Vikings’ offense better? What does Hockenson bring to the table that makes him unique as a tight end? For that, I asked three Vikings safeties about why he has been so successful and where he stresses defenses.

Harrison Smith:

“He’s a pretty big dude. He can run, he’s fluid, he has a great feel for getting open. He’s just a football player who makes plays when it’s his time. He’s kind of wiggly. He has one of those body types that is kind of — not Gumby but he can make things look interesting when he’s running routes. He’s a tough guy to cover.”

Cam Bynum:

“He’s a tight end that can run routes and move like a receiver with the way he can get out of a break at the top of a route, how smart and savvy he is with his route running, tempo’ing his routes where he’s not always going full speed but he uses that against you. You think you’re in position but he makes you go out of position at the last second. Long story short, he’s a receiver in a tight end’s body that can still block and do things a normal tight end can do.”

“When you see the way [he approaches] man vs. zone coverage, you see him sitting down in zones and running past guys in man [coverage], which is something that not everybody understands especially tight ends that are maybe more blocking tight ends than receiving. He can do it all and he’s smart enough to know that if they’re in zone, he can find the empty spot and sit down and the quarterback will find him.”

Josh Metellus:

“I missed him because in training camp last year it was a hell of a challenge going up against him. He’s just a really good football player who can block and run routes. You have to pay attention to him because before you know it he’ll have 10 catches, 100 yards and you don’t even realize it.”

“He has work ethic. I’m sure you guys see on social media, he has trainers out in Tennessee that do a great job of pushing him and he does a great job of having that mental mindset to understand that if you work at your craft it’s going to show up. He’s a workhorse. That’s that Iowa mindset. They’re all just dawgs.”

“It’s another guy who can catch the ball, who you have to pay attention to. Tight ends can kind of get lost because they are at the line of scrimmage doing a lot of dirty work and then the next thing you know — they’re like, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison can run by you but Hockenson is working option routes. As a defense is something you have to worry about and when you can marry up [run and pass], it’s even harder [for the defense].”

The challenge for Sunday night, as Hockenson gets back to work after being away from football since last December, will be quickly adjusting to another quarterback. But that has never really been a problem for him. He has bounced from Matthew Stafford to Jared Goff to Kirk Cousins to Josh Dobbs to Nick Mullens and always been a security blanket for his QB. In Dobbs’s first game, in which he arrived mid-week and had to play due to an injury to Jaren Hall, Hockenson led the team with seven receptions for 69 yards.

He’s been working with Sam Darnold after practice to work on their connection.

“Sam hasn't really seen me run, so… him just feeling how I move and how my moves work and how I think and how he thinks and where he wants me and that kind of stuff,” Hockenson said. “I think as a receiver you have to look in the eyes of the quarterback and know how fast they want you there if they just want you at a certain spot at a certain time or if they want you to stem a certain way or do something differently than you've done in the past rather than just get open. So just kind of learning from him and seeing what he does, you know, and seeing how he sees things.”

How much can we expect to see Hockenson vs. Indy?

“I think it will naturally work itself out,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “I think T.J. is ready to play, as good as he has really looked since we’ve gotten him here and that’s saying something considering the impact he made right away in ’22 and then the season he was having last year at the time when he got hurt. I know he is excited. Everyone is excited to have him back out there. Huge part of our system and offense and organization to have 87 back out there.”

On Sunday Night Football this week, indeed Hockenson will finally be back out there. After all the effort that’s gone into his return, nobody is more excited for that than him.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

— Blake Cashman did not practice. KOC said that he was going to work on the side to see if he’s ready to practice on Thursday and felt “positive” about his chances.

— KOC also said that Dalton Risner is ready to go and will be “part of the conversation” in terms of the starting lineup going forward.

— New LT Cam Robinson arrived at TCO Performance Center on Wednesday and will practice Thursday. The Vikings have to see how quickly he can get up to speed to determine if he can play.

— The Colts have a injury report worth watching with WRs Josh Downs, Michael Pittman, and OL Ryan Kelly and Braden Smith not practicing on Wednesday.