The Minnesota Vikings are entering a crucial 2024 season. Minnesota finally moved on from Kirk Cousins and replaced him with rookie J.J. McCarthy. The Vikings will need to be on top of their game, and overcome some key injuries, if they’re going to set McCarthy up for success in 2024. Unfortunately, the Vikings may be dealing with another injury situation at tight end.

According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, Vikings tight end Robert Tonyan left practice yesterday because of back spasms. His timetable for return is uncertain as of yesterday evening.

You never want to hear that a player has a back injury, especially a tight end or offensive lineman who is regularly asked to block.

Star tight end T.J. Hockenson is still recovering from his late-season ACL tear and began training camp on the PUP list. While Hockenson is reportedly “well ahead” in his recovery, he still suffered a significant injury. He is expected to miss several weeks to start the season.

If the Vikings lose Tonyan too, their tight end depth will be seriously suspect to start the season. In fact, they would be left with just Josh Oliver and Johnny Mundt at tight end.

We hope that Robert Tonyan has a speedy recovery.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell reveals plan for QBs Sam Darnold, J.J. McCarthy during recent interview

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has an interesting decision to make at QB.

Veteran QB Sam Darnold currently has the inside track to start Week 1 over rookie J.J. McCarthy. However, the hope is that McCarthy can surpass Darnold at some point during his rookie year and take the reins.

“I’m always going to do whatever I think is best for the team to give us the best chance to win, while also understanding that the journey for a young quarterback in this league — and I’m really talking about both Sam and J.J. McCarthy — is really defined in a lot of ways by things outside of their control,” Kevin O’Connell told NFL Network. “I think we set up a plan to give both those guys a ton of reps throughout training camp. I did feel like Sam, through his work in the spring and where he’s at in his career, earned the right to have the bulk of the first-team reps early on, but we’ve got a plan to get J.J. some reps as well.”

This should not be a surprise. McCarthy is a talented young QB prospect, but there was never an expectation that he would immediately become the starter in Minnesota.

We can’t wait to watch Darnold and McCarthy closely during the NFL preseason, which is just a week away!