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Will Aaron Jones Sr. or J.J. McCarthy play today for Week 8 Thursday Night Football (TNF)? Is Aaron Jones Sr. or J.J. McCarthy playing or out? The latest Aaron Jones Sr. and J.J. McCarthy injury report and fantasy updates.
The Minnesota Vikings will play on Thursday Night Football this week, later today, when they take on the Los Angeles Chargers, to kick off Week 8 of NFL action.
Two players for Minnesota, running back Aaron Jones Sr. (hamstring) and quarterback J.J. McCarthy (ankle) have missed significant time due to injury issues.
Fantasy managers understandably are interested in whether these players will take the field, and if they should be put into starting lineups. So will Jones and McCarthy be able to play for TNF?
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Aaron Jones Sr. Fantasy Football Injury Update
Jones has now missed the required four games after being placed on injured reserve after Week 2. He was activated from IR, and apparently is ready to play against the Chargers. Final confirmation won't come until the team's list of inactive players is released, which is due 90 minutes before kickoff. But NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that he's expected to play.
Vikings officially activated running back Aaron Jones off injured reserve, and he is expected to play tonight against the Chargers.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 23, 2025
But it looks like Jones will return to the lineup, at least. He's missed a lot of time due to injury the past few seasons, often being pulled from games due to new aliments he picked up. He played in 17 games in 2024, but just 11 the season prior, and has had his snaps restricted likely to preserve his health.
J.J. McCarthy Fantasy Football Injury Update
McCarthy (ankle), meanwhile, is officially listed as "questionable", but it will once again be backup Carson Wentz who will take the field against the Chargers. McCarthy continues to recover from the ankle sprain he suffered in Week 2. So far, he's missed four contests, and is about to miss his fifth.
ESPN sources: Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy is expected to be sidelined two-to-four weeks with a high ankle sprain.
With McCarthy out, Vikings QB Carson Wentz is now in line to start. pic.twitter.com/iZ1qvackMV
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 15, 2025
The aforementioned Schefter originally reported that his ankle injury would knock him out of play for just two-to-four games, so it's surprising that he's set to miss yet another one. It might be partially due to the short week, but there are other reasons this could be happening.
McCarthy's play was so bad in Week 2 that it was difficult for the Vikings to have any success. In fact, he played terribly outside of just one quarter against the Chicago Bears. It seems that Wentz has been putting the Vikings in a better position to win games.
Aaron Jones Sr. and J.J. McCarthy Fantasy Football Injury Impact
Jones' return to the lineup could siphon at least a few touches away from Vikings RB Jordan Mason, who took over the lead duties in the absence of Jones. Mason was already the primary rushing back, though, and is hardly used as a pass-catcher.
Jones brings a different element to the backfield, allowing a better option for dump-off and check-down passes by the QB in pressure situations. Not that the Chargers defense excels at anything right now. Still, Jones is likely to also handle a meager amount of rushing work.
Jordan Mason could end up as the primary early-down RB in Minnesota, despite Aaron Jones' presence.
Mason was one of the best tackle-breaking RBs in 2024. Among 36 RBs w/ 125+ rushes, he was 2nd in yards after contact/att (3.07) and 5th in missed tackles forced/att (0.22) 🧵 pic.twitter.com/zRkZleAIrc
— Dataroma (@ffdataroma) March 16, 2025
But Mason excels at breaking tackles and forcing defenders to miss, and is massive, weighing around 230 pounds. Jones was terrible in short-yardage situations last season, so his return doesn't seem likely to affect Mason's rushing workload.
McCarthy's absence is likely a boost for the offense. There are a few things that would need to happen for McCarthy to succeed at this point -- him simply getting through his reads faster and being more decisive, the offense changing its game plan to throw more short passes, or something else to mitigate his terrible pressure-to-sack rate.
“All indications” point to #Vikings QB JJ McCarthy returning next week against the #Lions, @TomPelissero stated via @KFAN1003. pic.twitter.com/GXeUSazuex
— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) October 23, 2025
Perhaps he'll return in Week 9, but that might honestly hurt the fantasy scoring of all Vikings players. I'd be nervous in leagues I had Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson in.
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