Vikings coach talks Lions clash for top seed, shares key injury update

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell maintained an upbeat and positive demeanor after guiding his team to a 27-25 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday in a divisional clash that featured an intense fourth quarter
As thrilled as he was, however, O’Connell knows the focus now shifts to preparing his players for their next showdown against a team he called “one of the best teams in football all year long.”
Next Sunday, the Detroit Lions will host the Vikings for their second matchup of the season, a regular-season finale at Ford Field that will decide not only the NFC North title but also the NFC’s No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Vikings improved to 8-1 at home this season with the win over the Packers. After the game, O’Connell reflected on what locking up home-field advantage would mean for the team and the city of Minnesota, while also acknowledging the challenge posed by the Lions.
“It would be phenomenal, but it is going to be an absolute challenge going on the road to a very hostile place and a team that’s had a ton of success,” O’Connell told reporters. “We have nothing but confidence for the team we’re going to play this week, and we’ve got to go earn it with really great preparation
“Late in the year, December football was something I wanted to make sure we were good about, and I think we’ll finish that 5-0 as we click over into January. But honestly, we’ve really been in January for a few weeks now, in my mind.”
During Sunday’s game at U.S. Bank Stadium, Vikings running back Aaron Jones suffered an injury and was unavailable to finish the game, concluding with 12 carries for 47 yards. O’Connell provided an update on Jones’ condition.
“Aaron Jones did get a quad contusion at some point and was working his way through it. He had some really good runs, but we decided to pull him,” O’Connell said. “I thought Ty Chandler showed up, making some physical runs, getting downhill fresh. Pairing him with Cam [Akers] there in the second half was a winning formula to get some of those plays off, either in tempo or in the play-pass world.”
Jones is currently the NFL’s 10th-leading rusher, with 1,046 yards and five touchdowns this season.
Vikings outside linebacker Pat Jones sustained a significant injury, and O’Connell said the team remains uncertain about the early prognosis
“Hopefully, we avoided kind of a super long-term injury, but I won’t know much more than that until he gets fully evaluated,” O’Connell said. “But, expecting him probably to miss a little bit of time. Like I said, I don’t know what that looks like as of right now.”
The fourth-year linebacker has 19 tackles and seven sacks this season, ranking third on the Vikings behind Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, who each have 11.