The Vikings are already down one key offensive contributor and now have another with an injury concern.
Running back Aaron Jones is questionable to return with a knee injury.
Jones was injured on a play late in the first quarter where he fumbled inside the 10-yard line. According to multiple reporters on the scene, Jones limped to the sideline and was then examined in the medical tent.
But tight end T.J. Hockenson has been ruled out with a concussion. He went down early in the first quarter.
While he was able to walk off the field under his own power, he was examined in the medical tent and then in the locker room where he was ruled out.
UPDATE 1:51 p.m. ET: Jones has returned to the game.
Vikings Clips
The Vikings had both of their top wide receivers listed as questionable on their final injury report of Week 5 and the gameday decisions went in different directions.
Justin Jefferson will play after missing last Sunday’s win over the Dolphins with an ankle injury, but Jordan Addison will miss the game with a hamstring injury. There was some thought that Odell Beckham Jr. would make his Vikings debut on Sunday, but he is also inactive.
Beckham signed to the practice squad this week and was elevated on Saturday, but Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said he’d only play if the team was missing one of the other wideouts. They are, but Beckham is still out of the lineup. Jauan Jennings, Tai Felton, Myles Price, and practice squad elevation Jeshaun Jones are the other wideouts.
Vikings at Saints
Vikings: WR Jordan Addison, WR Odell Beckham Jr., S Jakobe Thomas, QB Max Brosmer, CB Chuck Demmings, OT Christian Darrisaw, DL Elijah Williams
Saints: QB Zach Wilson, LB Anfernee Jennings, S Mike Reid, LB Kaden Elliss, G Jeremiah Wright, DL Vernon Broughton, DL Nathan Shepherd
Bears at Packers
Bears: QB Caleb Williams, RB Kyle Monangai, OL Ozzy Trapilo, LB Keyshaun Elliott, DL Jamree Kromah, DL Jayden Loving.
Packers: OL Jacob Monk, OL Aaron Banks, OL Donovan Jennings, DL Anthony Campbell
Bengals at Dolphins
Bengals: S Kyle Dugger, OT Myles Hinton, TE Jack Endries, WR Colbie Young, OL Connor Lew, DT Landon Robinson
Dolphins: WR Caleb Douglas, RB Kaytron Allen, CB Reese Taylor, DE Rob Beal, OL DJ Campbell, TE Justin Joly, OL Chukwuebuka Godrick
Raiders at Patriots
Raiders: WR Jalen Nailor, S Tristin McCollum, S Dalton Johnson, C Trey Zuhn, DT J.J. Pegues, RB Roman Hemby, QB Aidan O’Connell
Patriots: QB Behren Morton, OT Dametrious Crownover, CB Christian Gonzalez, CB Carlton Davis, CB Karon Prunty, CB Channing Canada
Browns at Jets
Browns: QB Taylen Green, WR Tylan Wallace, TE Carsen Ryan, C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins, DT Mike Hall Jr., DT Mason Graham
Jets: RB Breece Hall, WR Adonai Mitchell, G Dylan Parham, LB Nate Lynn, LB Kiko Mauigoa, CB Nahshon Wright
Colts at Steelers
Colts: LB Jaylon Carlies, WR Ashton Dulin, QB Riley Leonard, WR Darius Slayton, G Dalton Tucker
Steelers: RB Rico Dowdle, QB Drew Allar, QB Will Howard, RB Eli Heidenreich, CB Jamel Dean, CB Terell Smith, DL Kevin Jobity
Texans at Titans
Texans: CB Collin Wright, DE Chris Braswell, DE Sabastian Harsh, LB Aiden Fisher, G Febechi Nwaiwu, OT Nate Thomas, TE Marlin Klein
Titans: RB Nick Singleton, RB Michael Carter, S Amani Hooker, CB Jaylon Jones, T Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE David Martin-Robinson, DT Jackie Marshall
Giants at Commanders
Giants: RB Devin Singletary, OL J.C. Davis, DL Bobby Jamison-Travis, S Jason Pinnock, CB Nikko Reed, QB Jake Haener
Commanders: WR Stefon Diggs, QB Marcus Mariota, S Tyler Owens, S Nick Cross, S Percy Butler, G Tanoa Togiai, DE Charles Omenihu
The 4-0 Vikings have turned the page back to the days of the Purple People Eaters. And the stout defense isn’t getting a ton of help from the offense.
The Vikings have had 18 straight drives without a touchdown. The last one happened in the second quarter of a Week 3 win over the Buccaneers. The Week 4 victory over the Dolphins happened with five field goals.
Yes, tight end T.J. Hockenson could have scored just before the two-minute warning, but he wisely took a knee and allowed the Vikings to ensure the Dolphins wouldn’t be able to score twice and steal the game. Either way, the Vikings did not register a touchdown against the Dolphins.
As noted last Sunday, the win made the Vikings the first team in more than 100 years to start 4-0 despite not scoring a touchdown in multiple games. The 1922 and 1923 Chicago Cardinals were the only other teams to accomplish that feat.
If the Vikings do it again at any point this year, they’ll become only the fourth team in NFL history to win three or more games without scoring a touchdown. The others were the 1922 Chicago Cardinals, the 1923 Chicago Bears, and the 1993 Indianapolis Colts, per NBC Sports research.
The all-time record, held by the 1922 Cardinals, is four.
Still, there’s reason to believe the Vikings could snap out of their early-season funk. After the Dolphins scored a touchdown late in the third quarter to cut Minnesota’s lead to 12-10, the Vikings offense seemed to wake up. A 15-play, 60-yard drive consumed more than eight minutes of clock time and extended the lead to 15-10. Then, after a three-and-out effort from the Dolphins, the Vikings burned the remaining 5:41 by moving the ball 79 yards from their own 19 to the Miami two.
The next test comes today, in New Orleans. The 1-3 Saints are desperate for a win after losing their first two home games of the season — capped by Monday night’s embarrassing loss to the Falcons. New Orleans hasn’t lost its first three games at home since 1995.
While there’s a chance he’ll be inactive, Vikings receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has a chance to make his debut for Minnesota on Sunday.
The Vikings, per multiple reports, will elevate Beckham from the practice squad in advance of the Week 5 game at New Orleans.
Coach Kevin O’Connell said Friday that Beckham likely would be elevated to the active roster for the game, but that he’d also likely be inactive if both Justin Jefferson (ankle) and Jordan Addison (hamstring) aren’t able to go.
Neither has been downgraded from questionable to out. Usually, a player who is listed as questionable but who isn’t playing won’t make the trip and, in turn, be ruled out the day before the game.
Beckham, a Louisiana native who played at LSU, surely welcomes the opportunity to suit up and play in New Orleans, in his first game with the Vikings.
The passing of larger-than-life NFL legend Mike Ditka has sparked a flood of great stories and clips from Ditka’s time in football. Many of them stand out. There’s one that’s particularly relevant to the Bears’ ongoing quest to vacate Soldier Field for a venue with a roof.
In December 1987, as the Bears prepared for their annual trip to the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Ditka went off on football not played in the elements.
“I just don’t like indoor domes,” Ditka said. “They weren’t meant for football. Football is meant to play it outside and on grass. . . . Indoor domes should be useful for roller rinks. That’s all they should be for. Roller skating.”
That same week, Ditka skated through the Bears’ offices in rollerblades.
“They were a gift,” Ditka said. "[Vikings G.M.] Mike Lynn sprung for them. That might refute everything I’ve heard about him from his players.”
The Bears won the “Rollerdome” game, 30-24, on a late touchdown pass from Mike Tomczak to Dennis Gentry.
“I did what I did about the dome for certain reasons,” Ditka said after the victory. “To get the pressure off the players and get it on me. And I think for that point, it worked.”
Ditka then made a point that hopefully will resonate with today’s coaches.
“If people don’t like the things I do, that’s just a point of life,” Ditka said. “There’s gotta be some levity in life, and there’s gotta be a little bit of fun had. And we take this whole thing seriously, like it’s life and death. It’s not life and death. We’re gonna go out and play as hard as we can. We’re gonna be great representatives of the city of Chicago, the Chicago Bear organization. That’s all we’re trying to do is be something that people can be proud of. But, you know, if I’m not gonna have any fun on my way there, partner, I just — they got the wrong guy, because, you know, I said a long time ago, maybe the NFL is a little bit too staid and true in its ways. Maybe it takes somebody to loosen them up a little bit. And our players do that, so why shouldn’t the coach be a little wacky?”
Current Bears coach Ben Johnson seems to already be living that message. With the first game after Ditka’s passing coming against the Packers at Lambeau Field, maybe Johnson will take it up a notch.
Back to Ditka’s point. Football really is meant to be played outside and on grass. Unfortunately, the indoor ship seems to have sailed. The Commanders, Browns, Titans, and Chiefs are currently moving toward swapping the elements for a roller rink. And the Bears inevitably will join them, whether that’s in Chicago, Arlington Heights, or Hammond, Indiana.
Whoever the coach of the Vikings is at the time should show up for the first game to be played there on roller skates, as the ultimate homage to Ditka.
The NFL has only three 4-0 teams after four weeks. Two of them — the Chiefs and Vikings — didn’t make it to the playoffs in 2025.
Via NBC Sports research, it’s the first time since 2013 that multiple teams that failed to make the playoffs in the prior season started with 4-0 records. That year, the Chiefs and Saints started 4-0. (In 2012, the Chiefs were 2-14, and the Saints went 7-9.)
The 2025 Chiefs went 6-11 after three straight Super Bowl appearances. The 2025 Vikings finished 9-8, with five straight wins.
Minnesota has the current longest active winning streak in the NFL, with nine in a row. They’ll go for 10 in a row, tying the second-longest winning streak in franchise history, on Sunday at New Orleans.
The 1975 Vikings started 10-0. The 1969 Vikings lost their first and last games of the regular season — and won all 12 in a row in between.
The Vikings may or may not have their top two receivers when they play the Saints on Sunday.
Minnesota has listed both Justin Jefferson (ankle) and Jordan Addison (hamstring) as questionable.
Jefferson was limited in practice all week, while Addison did not practice Wednesday but was limited on Thursday and Friday.
With Odell Beckham Jr. signing to the practice squad this week, the Vikings could elevate him if Jefferson and/or Addison are unavailable. But if Jefferson and Addison can play, Beckham is unlikely to see the field.
“We’re still working through kind of what that looks like,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said Friday. “Obviously with Justin and Jordan, obviously we’ll have to make that determination tomorrow based upon what it looks like for Sunday.
“But we’ve prepared really the whole receivers room — rostered guys and all of our practice squad — for just about anything.”
Additionally, offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw (concussion) and cornerback Charles Demmings (hamstring) are out.
Offensive tackle Brian O’Neill (knee), center Michael Jurgens (elbow), and tight end Ben Yurosek (ankle) are questionable.
Punter Brett Thorson (hamstring) will be back, as he’s off the injury report and set to play.
The Saints will have wide receiver Chris Olave in the lineup against the Vikings on Sunday.
Head coach Kellen Moore told reporters at Friday’s press conference that Olave is good to go despite being in a walking boot after Thursday’s practice. Olave’s foot was stepped on, but he was able to fully participate in the team’s final practice of the week.
Running back Alvin Kamara (back) also practiced on Friday, but he’s been listed as questionable for Sunday. Safety Julian Blackmon (shoulder), wide receiver Barion Brown (thigh), and defensive lineman Christen Miller (toe) are in the same category.
The Saints have ruled out linebacker Kaden Elliss (calf), linebacker Anfernee Jennings (knee), and guard Jeremiah Wright (concussion).
The NFL Players Association announced on Friday that Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been named their Community MVP for Week 5.
Jefferson and his The JJets Foundation hosted a Strike Out Cancer bowling event that raised more than $45,000 for the American Cancer Society. Jefferson and other Vikings players bowled and played other games with 25 cancer patients, survivors and caregivers. Jefferson also presented one young cancer survivor with two tickets to Super Bowl LXI.
“It’s an honor to be named the NFLPA Community MVP,” Jefferson said in a statement. “I’m grateful to everyone who supported our inaugural Strike Out Cancer event and continues to help us make a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer. I look forward to growing the event for years to come.”
The NFLPA will donate $10,000 to Jefferson’s foundation. The wideout will also join the other weekly MVPs in being eligible for the Alan Page Award at the end of the season.
Saints quarterback Tyler Shough downplayed his inclusion as a limited participant on Wednesday’s injury report and Thursday’s update on his participation supported that lack of concern.
Shough, who hurt his left hand in Monday night’s loss to the Falcons, is listed as a full participant. That should put him on track to play against the Vikings this weekend.
Running back Alvin Kamara (back) and wide receiver Chris Olave (rest, knee) also took steps in the right direction. Both players were limited participants after being listed as non-participants on Wednesday.
Linebacker Kaden Elliss (calf), defensive lineman Damon Godchaux (rest, groin), linebacker Anfernee Jennings (knee), and cornerback Jayden Price (personal) missed practice. Safety Julian Blackmon (shoulder), wide receiver Barion Brown (thigh), tight end Noah Fant (abdomen), linebacker Carl Granderson (ankle), and guard Jeremiah Wright (concussion) were limited participants.
Linebacker Jaylan Ford (ankle), safety Mike Reid (ankle), and safety Lorenzo Styles (calf) were the team’s full participants.
