Gameday injury updates on Vikings' Aaron Jones, Christian Darrisaw

The three biggest questions the Vikings have are whether starting tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O'Neill, and running back Aaron Jones, will play Thursday night against the Chargers.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Darrisaw is dealing with "significant" soreness in his surgically repaired left knee, while Jones has a realistic chance of being activated from injured reserve in time for the 7:15 p.m. CT kickoff.

"He reported some soreness, significant soreness on Wednesday," Rapoport said of Darrisaw. "Short weeks are brutal, so they're going to check him out today, maybe even put him through a pregame workout and see if Christian Darrisaw is able to go."

Jones, who is questionable after returning to practice this week after missing the past four games with a strained hamstring, "at least has a realistic chance to be able to be activated and play tonight" according to Rapoport.

"We will see if it's actually going to happen, but at least he has got a shot," Rapoport said.

Running back Zavier Scott is also questionable with a wrist injury, so if Jones and Scott wind up missing the game, it'll leave the Vikings with Jordan Mason and Cam Akers as the top two running backs.

If Darrisaw doesn't play, Justin Skule will presumably be named the starter at left tackle.

As for O'Neill, there hasn't been an update on his condition yet today, but he was questionable last week and wound up playing, so there's no reason to think Thursday night will be any different unless he suffered a setback to the MCL sprain that knocked him out of action in Week 5 against the Browns.

The approach the Vikings take will be interesting because all of the questionable players could play Thursday night and then get a mini bye with 10 days to recover before the next game on Nov. 2 against the Lions. However, the Vikings could choose to give players like Darrisaw, O'Neill, and Jones the full two weeks off to make sure they're as healthy as possible for a huge divisional game against Detroit.

The road only gets tougher for the Vikings, with huge divisional games against Detroit, Chicago, and Green Bay all coming before Thanksgiving.

More from Vikings On SI