The Minnesota Vikings appeared to have found something exciting in backup tight end Robert Tonyan this offseason, then injury struck.

Team doctors carted Tonyan off of the practice field on Wednesday, July 31, after he went down with a back injury.

“The cart is coming for Vikings TE Robert Tonyan,” Alec Lewis of The Athletic reported via X. “Has been down for a while.”

Often times, the appearance of the cart is a bad omen indicating long-lasting and serious injuries soon to be announced. However, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke with media members on Friday and suggested a return timeline for Tonyan that includes the tight end playing in preseason games, which begin for Minnesota with a matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders in Minneapolis on August 10.

“He was carted off. It was a back spasm type issue. He’s gonna be working through kind of a lower back thing. We hope to get him back soon,” O’Connell said, per the team’s offical X account. “We’ll see how that goes here in the next few days, how he kinda turns over. But we wanna give him, especially with the preseason games in the not-too-distant future, we wanna make sure we get him to a good place so he can take part in those.”

Vikings Likely Without T.J. Hockenson for Multiple Games to Start Season

GettyTight end T.J. Hockenson of the Minnesota Vikings during an NFL game against the Detroit Lions.

Tonyan and his health matter significantly to Minnesota in the context of two-time Pro Bowler T.J. Hockenson.

Hockenson tore his ACL on Christmas Eve last year against the Detroit Lions, his former team, and is likely to miss multiple games to begin the 2024 campaign. He remained on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as of Friday. If he starts the regular season there, he will miss at least the first four contests.

Minnesota is in the middle of a massive organizational transition, moving from six-year starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to one-year rental (at least for now) Sam Darnold as a bridge to rookie and No. 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft J.J. McCarthy. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson is locked in long-term on the most expensive non-QB contract in league history, but the passing game faces serious questions beyond him — at least to begin the season.

Hockenson is probably going to miss multiple games, while No. 2 wideout Jordan Addison could face punishment from the Vikings and/or the NFL after an arrest on suspicion of DUI outside of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on July 12. Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune noted on the July 15 episode of KFAN’s “The Paul Allen Show” that the league has suspended players for DUI arrests before.

“I think the precedent for that is three games,” Goessling said. “And the optics of it, obviously, are really bad at the moment.”

Robert Tonyan Standing Out in Vikings’ Offseason Program

GettyTight end Robert Tonyan Jr., formerly of the Green Bay Packers.

No matter who Minnesota starts under center in Week 1, that player will be taking the first snap of his NFL career for the Vikings. He probably has to do so without Hockenson, and he may have to do so without Addison.

Hence, Tonyan’s importance.

Minnesota doesn’t have another high-level pass-catcher at the position outside of Hockenson and Tonyan. Josh Oliver, Johnny Mundt and Nick Muse tallied 39 catches for 385 receiving yards and 3 TDs between them in 2023, according to ESPN.

The best season of Tonyan’s six-year career, all of which has been spent as either a member of the Green Bay Packers or Chicago Bears, came alongside QB Aaron Rodgers in 2020. Tonyan hauled in 52 receptions for 586 receiving yards and 11 TDs on his own that season, per Pro Football Reference.

He didn’t see a great deal of action playing behind Cole Kmet in Chicago last year, though Tonyan appeared to have returned to his top form during offseason work with the Vikings, at least according to a report from Lewis in early June.

“Robert Tonyan has looked great in minicamp,” Lewis wrote on June 5. “No hyperbole. Catching everything, snagged multiple passes in red-zone period today, outstretched arms, toe-tapping in the corner of the end zone. Just impressive.”

That’s the type of player the Vikings will need until Hockenson returns to the starting lineup at some point this fall, and Tonyan may still be able to give it to them depending on how his back issues play out over the next several weeks.