A career year was cut short for Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson when the 26-year-old suffered tears in both his ACL and MCL. Hockenson was forced out of Minnesota’s Week 16 loss to the Lions, officially putting an end to his fifth NFL season.
After waiting 36 days to allow his MCL to heal, Hockenson underwent surgery to repair his ACL at the end of January, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN. Seifert reported no complications from the procedure and a typical recovery period of nine months.
Training camp for Minnesota is set to begin six months from the date of his surgery, so there’s a growing possibility that Hockenson will miss a chunk of the 2024 season.
Here are a few other injury updates as the season nears its close this weekend:
- Another tight end, one who’s been around a bit longer than Hockenson, also suffered a season-ending injury late in the year. Jets veteran C.J. Uzomah sustained damage to his MCL and meniscus and a plateau fracture of his tibia early into a Week 12 loss to the Falcons. According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, recovery is going well, though rehab is reportedly “way worse” than when he came back from an Achilles tendon injury a few years ago. Uzomah is headed into a contract year with New York, but his injury combined with an impending cap hit of $11.22M could put him at risk of being a cap casualty. A potential out in his contract would allow the team to release him with only $5.92M in dead money.
- Second-year Eagles wide receiver and return specialist Britain Covey was reportedly dealing with a quadriceps injury down the stretch of the season, per EJ Smith of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He had undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left knee at the opening of last year’s offseason, and he seemed to be under the impression that his quad issues were a byproduct of that previous injury.
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