Aaron Jones gave the Vikings exactly what they needed Sunday, and maybe a little more.
In a 23-13 win over the New Orleans Saints that pushed Minnesota to 5-0, the veteran back looked like the guy the Vikings hoped they were getting when they brought him back. Jones matched a career high with 25 carries, piled up 113 yards and scored a touchdown.
He also caught three passes for four yards. And after aggravating a knee injury in the first quarter, he came back wearing a brace and finished as the only Vikings running back to log a carry in the victory.
That matters because this was not the script most people expected when Jones returned for another season in Minnesota. It became the script the Vikings needed once Jordan Mason landed on injured reserve with a thumb fracture.
Mason is expected back after the bye for a Week 7 game against the Indianapolis Colts, but Jones handled the load in the meantime and reminded the Vikings why they kept him around after he was once on the verge of being released.
The return made sense from the Vikings’ perspective when they first brought Jones in ahead of the 2024 season. Minnesota had slogged through 2023 with Alexander Mattison and Ty Chandler in the backfield, and Jones arrived with a strong résumé from his Green Bay Packers days. He backed that up with a career-best 1,138 yards and five touchdowns.
The production was real, but so was the wear. Jones faded as the year went on. Even so, Minnesota handed him a two-year, $20 million deal to stay.
The plan was to team him with Mason, who came over in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers, and lighten the strain on Jones. Instead, injuries got in the way, and Jones finished with 548 yards and two touchdowns across 12 games.
With another year left on the contract, he was viewed in March as a possible salary cap move. Instead, Jones took a one-year, $5 million deal to remain with the Vikings.
That choice raised eyebrows. Minnesota still wanted more pop out of the running game, and the organization spent the offseason trying to reshape things. The team added offensive line coach Keith Carter and assistant head coach Frank Smith to rework the scheme, and it even drafted speedy running back Demond Claiborne in the sixth round in April.
But Jones’s value was never just about burst. His leadership helped bring him back, and now the Vikings are getting the full package: steadiness, toughness and a runner who will keep taking hits if that’s what the team needs.
His last month has shown exactly that. Jones entered Sunday with a 48.6 percent success rate, which fits the profile of a back who keeps the offense on schedule more than one who lives off splash plays.
With Claiborne still developing in pass protection and in the rest of his game, Jones has had to carry the burden. He did it in Week 2 against the Chicago Bears with 23 carries for 105 yards, and the load has only grown since then.
Over the past four weeks, he has taken 85 carries. The production hasn’t always been flashy, but the effort has stood out, especially to head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“What a warrior [he’s been] over these last few weeks. Aaron would hate for me to say this, but his ability to be a warrior on game day, find a way to make it to the next one, and then just be able to be leaned on the way he is.
He is an inspiration to this group. But his wingman is coming back. Hopefully, he’ll make it back after the bye, and we’ll move forward.”
Jones’s workload probably won’t stay this heavy once the team comes out of the bye. That could be a good thing for a player who has been asked to absorb a lot while dealing with pain. It should also give the Vikings a chance to get Mason more involved and keep building on the efficiency they’ve found on the ground.
Even if Jones gets fewer touches from here on out, his place inside the building looks bigger than ever. Playing through the knee issue and handling his largest workload since 2019 says plenty.
For a team still trying to settle its running game under O’Connell, Sunday was a major lift. For Jones, it was another reminder that the Vikings were right to bring him back.
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