The Detroit Lions had plenty to celebrate after winning the NFC North title on Sunday.Moreover, today’s opponent was the Minnesota Vikings. Not only did Minnesota drop a critical Week 16 game to their division rival, but the loss eliminated them from the NFC playoffs. But it also lost star tight end T.J. Hockenson for the rest of the season.
Hockenson left Christmas Eve with a knee injury after being hit by Lions safety Kerby Joseph in the third quarter. The jump looked brutal for the former Iowa tight end. And on Tuesday, the Vikings’ worst fears came true. Hockenson ended the season with torn ACL and MCL.Because of the severity of the injury, the fifth-year specialist could begin the 2024 campaign on the disabled list. In his first three and a half years in Detroit before the injury, Hockenson had the best season of his career. He set career highs in catches (95), yards (960), yards per game (64.0) and catch percentage (74.8%).
Additionally, at the end of Week 16, he ranked second among all tight ends in catches and third in yards. He also earned the highest overall Pro Football Focus grade of his career (78.8) for his 2023 effort. His previous best performance came in 2020 with the Lions, where he averaged 75.5 points.In a Week 16 tilt, Minnesota has D.J. Wonnum due to seasonal illness.
Wonnum suffered a quad injury early in the fourth quarter against Detroit.”I’m shocked by those two guys,” Vikings manager Kevin O’Connell told reporters Tuesday. “Two of our most impressive players, leaders of our group. He sets the standard for all aspects of what we want as Minnesota Vikings: as a person, as a teammate and as a player on the field.
Two guys who have a hard time accepting defeat. But we have to promote players and hopefully keep them in our team. “Because like I said, they’re leaders and they’re very important to our dressing room.”Hockenson, the eighth overall pick in the 2019 draft, had 186 catches for 2,068 yards and 15 touchdowns in 47 games with Detroit.
