Vikings injury updates from KOC include news on Aaron Jones, Ryan Kelly

Kevin O'Connell gave some updates on a variety of Vikings players in his Monday presser.

Nov 2, 2025; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell looks on during the first quarter against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

During his day-after-game press conference on Monday afternoon, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell provided injury updates on a variety of players, including the first news in a while on center Ryan Kelly. From an overall perspective, the Vikings emerged from Sunday's upset win in Detroit in very good health, which is encouraging as they head into the second half of the season.

"Christian Darrisaw, Brian O'Neill, J.J. McCarthy, and Andrew Van Ginkel all came out in a really positive place, health-wise," O'Connell said of four key players who have missed time this season but are now back in the lineup.

Aaron Jones

Jones was one of the Vikings' best players on Sunday, racking up 98 yards on 11 touches before departing with a shoulder injury just two snaps into the third quarter. The initial reporting is that he suffered a mild AC joint sprain and has a chance to play this week against the Ravens.

O'Connell talked about Jones' status a bit more on Monday.

"Positive news early on," he said. "He's sore, obviously, coming out of the game, but the evaluations have been pretty positive today. We'll see how he does throughout the week, but expecting him to be able to hopefully ramp up his workload and I'll give you guys an update as the week goes on."

It'll be worth paying attention to the injury reports later this week to see if Jones can go. If he does play, he figures to lead the Vikings' backfield against Baltimore. If he can't go, Jordan Mason would return to the lead role.

Ryan Kelly

Not surprisingly, there haven't been any updates on Kelly, the Vikings' starting center, since his second concussion in a 15-day span landed him on injured reserve a month ago. He's now missed the last four games and is eligible to return to action, but the Vikings haven't even opened his practice window yet. The good news is that Kelly's ramp-up process appears to be starting, as he'll do some work with trainers on a side field this week.

Ryan Kelly snaps the ball against the Atlanta Falcons. | Images Courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

"Don't really have an update at this time of opening his window or anything like that, but want to get him started," O'Connell said. "He seems to be in a good place, and (we) want to see the next part of that process begin."

Blake Brandel has started the last four games at center after Michael Jurgens filled in there earlier in the season. It would be big for the Vikings if they can get Kelly back at some point and perhaps have their entire starting offensive line healthy for the first time all year.

Theo Jackson and others

Jackson, one of the Vikings' top three safeties, has entered concussion protocol after reporting some mild symptoms on Monday morning, O'Connell said.

"He came in this morning with some very mild symptoms and we want to be safe there, so he'll go into the concussion protocol. We'll see how he can progress throughout the week."

Jackson was an every-down player earlier this year when Harrison Smith was out, but he played just 16 defensive snaps in Detroit on Sunday.

O'Connell also said that fullback C.J. Ham (hand) should "return to practice in a limited capacity" and that blocking tight end Josh Oliver (foot) will "begin working his way back on the side field with the trainers." Nick Vannett and Ben Yurosek would continue to be involved on offense if Oliver doesn't return this week.

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