Vikings' Aaron Jones vows to fix fumble issue after two more vs. Cardinals

The Vikings stuck with Jones and he caught the game-winning touchdown pass.

Dec 1, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) hands the ball off to running back Aaron Jones (33) against the Arizona Cardinals in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Prior to this season, fumbles weren't much of an issue for Aaron Jones during his seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers. The veteran running back had 17 of them in 104 games with the Packers, which is roughly one every six games. Only in 2022, when he fumbled five times, did he have more than three in a single regular season.

After fumbling twice on his first four touches against the Cardinals on Sunday, Jones now has five in 12 games this season. Four have come in the last three games alone, which doesn't include a dropped pitch against the Titans that was charged to Sam Darnold.

Jones had the ball punched out by Arizona CB Sean Murphy-Bunting on the Vikings' first offensive play and was fortunate that it was recovered by teammate Brian O'Neill. On the first play of their next series, he caught a checkdown and never seemed to have great control of the ball when Murphy-Bunting punched it out for another fumble. This one was a turnover.

Following that play, Jones went to the bench and didn't play for almost a quarter. He said after the game that he isn't sure why fumbles have been such an issue for him lately — and vowed to fix it.

"Just gotta go back and look at the film," he said. "I can't make any excuses, that's not me. I gotta be better. I talked with (RBs coach Curtis Modkins), he said 'we'll figure out what's going on, we'll correct it.' It's even more frustrating because it's not me and it's happened more than I like recently. But I'll get that fixed."

Kevin O'Connell could've benched Jones for the rest of the game, but he stuck with his No. 1 running back. Jones' day got even worse when he dropped a would-be touchdown in the fourth quarter. O'Connell stuck with him after that, too.

"Even when I ran off then, KO's like 'hey, I'm coming right back to you,'" Jones said. "That just means a lot. When things aren't going your way — this wasn't my best day — but when you've got a group of guys around you who believe in you, they're gonna stick with you."

It paid off in the end. Jones had just eight touches, but the final one was a game-winning touchdown reception with a little over a minute left on the clock. He caught the ball, ran into the end zone, and pointed up toward the sky in a celebration filled with relief.

"I'm really thankful to be here, thankful to my teammates, my coaches for lifting me up even when I'm down," Jones said. "They keep my head up on the sideline, they never lose confidence in me."

The Vikings are going to keep leaning on Jones, provided he can get this issue fixed and hold onto the ball. His lengthy track record in the NFL suggests that this won't be something that continues to plague him moving forward.

"I have total trust in Aaron," O'Connell said. "There's a reason why I called the play I did in the end. He's one of our best players, he is going to continue to be one of our best players, and there's not a guy in that locker room that doesn't absolutely love playing with Aaron Jones. We got his back, without any hesitation or question."