RADIO
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?
Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:- 2025 fantasy football rankings
- Running back (RB) fantasy football rankings
- Wide receiver (WR) fantasy football rankings
- Tight end (TE) fantasy football rankings
- Quarterback (QB) fantasy football rankings
- FLEX fantasy football rankings
- Defense (D/ST) fantasy football rankings
- Kicker (K) fantasy football rankings
- Dynasty fantasy football rankings
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.
Who Should I Start Tool
Not sure who to start? Check out the Who Should I Start tool:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 8 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Jordan Mason, Isiah Pacheco, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Chuba Hubbard, Tyler Allgeier, Tony Pollard. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 8. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 8 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 8 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on Jordan Mason, Isiah Pacheco, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Chuba Hubbard, Tyler Allgeier, Tony Pollard. His is one of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 8.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed, our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 8 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 8 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 8 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 8 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Jordan Mason, Isiah Pacheco, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Chuba Hubbard, Tyler Allgeier, Tony Pollard compared to others:
More Fantasy Football Analysis
Download Our Free News & Alerts Mobile App
Like what you see? Download our updated fantasy football app for iPhone and Android with 24x7 player news, injury alerts, rankings, starts/sits & more. All free!
