When the Vikings put tight end T.J. Hockenson on the physically unable to perform list at the start of training camp, head coach Kevin O’Connell said that Hockenson was ahead of schedule in his rehab from a torn ACL.
Being ahead of schedule isn’t the same thing as being on the verge of returning to action, however. That was the central theme of O’Connell’s update on Hockenson’s condition on Friday.
O’Connell said that there is a timeline in place for Hockenson and that the team will “try to stay true to that while also giving him opportunities to push to maybe shrink that timeline a little bit.” For now, though, it’s premature to talk about when Hockenson might get the green light.
“I just don’t think it would be responsible at this point with where he’s at in his rehab to start even me personally thinking about are we going to have him, are we not?” O’Connell said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. “I want him focusing on what he can control, what he’s done an unbelievable job of so far, which is his daily mission of just attacking this thing one day at a time.”
Hockenson can be activated at any point in camp, but will have to miss four games if he’s not taken off the PUP list before the cut to 53 players.