Vikings' KOC gives updates on Hockenson, Cashman, Risner ahead of Colts game

T.J. Hockenson is expected to be a full go on Sunday Night Football.

Oct 20, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell throws a ball before the game against the Detroit Lions at U.S. Bank Stadium. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

After discussing the Vikings' acquisition of left tackle Cam Robinson and his chances of playing on Sunday night, head coach Kevin O'Connell gave updates on several other notable players in his Wednesday press conference ahead of this weekend's primetime game against the Colts. Let's dive in.

Hockenson expected to be a full go

T.J. Hockenson was activated from injured reserve last Friday and is set to make his season debut at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday night, and it sounds like he won't be on any sort of limited snap count in his first game since suffering ACL and MCL injuries last Christmas Eve.

"I think T.J.'s ready to play," O'Connell said. "He's as good as he's 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's excited. Everybody's excited to have him back out there. Huge part of our system and offense and organization."

The Vikings have exercised caution in bringing back Hockenson, who is nine months removed from ACL repair surgery. He's now had several weeks to get acclimated back into football and shouldn't be limited at all in his return to the field.

Hockenson might not play every single snap, but it sounds like he'll be a big part of the game plan on Sunday like he always is when healthy. Josh Oliver will remain involved in his blocking-heavy role, but Hockenson's return means snaps will be few and far between for Johnny Mundt.

O'Connell still hopeful on Cashman

Vikings standout middle linebacker Blake Cashman has missed each of the last two games due to turf toe, and his absence has been apparent and impactful. Without him, Brian Flores' defense had major trouble slowing down the Lions and Rams' offenses.

The Vikings are hoping to get Cashman back this week, but it sounds like that's a real toss-up that won't be determined until closer to kickoff. He wasn't practicing with the team on Wednesday.

"Blake will do basically a full allotment of work on the side field today, just to make sure he feels ready to roll moving into the week of practice," O'Connell said. "If, for whatever reason, it might be smart to hold him for this week — I think we can have some pretty good understanding after today about where Blake's at. He's done everything we've asked him to do. I'm still really hopeful we'll have him Sunday night."

That's one to track via the injury reports over the course of this week.

Where does Risner fit in?

After Christian Darrisaw got hurt, there seemed to be some buzz building towards the idea of Blake Brandel sliding out to left tackle and Dalton Risner stepping in at left guard. Adding Robinson obviously nixes that possibility, but Risner could still remain a candidate to replace Ed Ingram at right guard, even if that doesn't happen on Sunday.

"Dalton's healthy, he's ready to roll," O'Connell said. "Dalton's very much a part of the conversation. ... I anticipate trying to get him up to speed and ready to roll. I think we're gonna see Dalton in a uniform sooner rather than later."

Risner opened the season on injured reserve with a back issue, but he's been healthy for a while now, by his own account. Because of when his 21-day practice window was opened, the deadline to activate him to the 53-man roster is coming up on Monday. That means the Vikings could keep Risner on IR through this weekend's game if they want to — or they could activate him and put him out there against the Colts. We'll have to wait and see.