Vikings Lose Another Key Playmaker vs Saints

The Minnesota Vikings already entered their Week 5 matchup against the New Orleans Saints short-handed with wide receivers Jordan Addison and Odell Beckham Jr. sidelined.

However, the team lost yet another key piece to its offense in the beginning moments of the first quarter.

According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson has been downgraded to out after suffering a concussion in the first quarter.

Hockenson was coming off an impressive Week 4 performance, when he had 13 catches for 119 yards. He looked ready to continue that type of production agains the Saints, too, given the Vikings limited resources available on offense.

However, Minnesota will now have to rely on its other reinforcements, including wide receivers Jauan Jennings and Tai Felton.

The one piece of good news is that Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson was active for the game, so quarterback Kyler Murray will surely be looking his way even more with Hockenson ruled out.

Hockenson began his professional career as a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, out of Iowa, where he was named first-team All-American as well as the John Mackey and Ozzie Newsome award winner in 2018.

Since then, he has racked up 455 catches for 4,635 yards and 27 touchdowns while being named to two Pro Bowls.