For the second consecutive week, a Minnesota Vikings running back sustained an injury.
This time it was starter Aaron Jones, who suffered a hamstring injury against the Atlanta Falcons and was placed on IR. That means he will miss at least the next four games.
That’s more bad news for the Vikings backfield, which already lost Ty Chandler to a knee injury in the season-opening 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears.
But it could also mean more playing time for former University of Maine wide receiver-running back Zavier Scott.
Scott, an undrafted free agent who has been used as a running back by the Vikings, dressed for his first National Football League game in Sunday night’s 22-6 loss to the Falcons but didn’t factor in the game.
The Vikings’ top two running backs beginning the season were Jones and Jordan Mason, with Chandler and Scott backing them up.
The two injuries will leave Mason as the primary running back with Scott as a back-up.
The Vikings also signed veteran running back Cam Akers on Tuesday. This will be his third stint with the team.
Mason is the team’s leading rusher with 98 yards on 24 carries and he has also caught three passes for 15 yards. Jones had 46 yards on 13 carries and three receptions for 44 yards. Chandler didn’t have a carry or a catch but returned three kickoffs for 84 yards.
Scott missed the opener due to an ankle injury suffered in the last preseason game.
The Vikings will host the Cincinnati Bengals at 1 p.m. Sunday before traveling to Europe for their next two games.
The Vikings will face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland on Sunday, Sept. 28, and will take on the Cleveland Browns in London the following week (Oct. 5).
The games in Europe will start at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
In preseason games against the Houston Texans, New England Patriots and Titans, Scott averaged 4.4 yards per carry as he carried the ball 22 times for 96 yards. He also caught five passes for 61 yards and returned a kickoff for 20 yards.
Of his 96 rushing yards, 81 came after contact.
The 26-year-old Scott, who was on the Vikings’ practice squad last year, signed a one-year contract for $840,000 with the Vikings in the offseason.
He had spent a year on the Indianapolis’ Colts’ practice squad in 2023 before coming to the Vikings’s practice squad last season.
The 6-foot-1, 219-pound Scott transferred to UMaine after spending two years at the University of Connecticut. He was a third team All-Coastal Athletic Association selection in his final season at UMaine.
He led the Black Bears in receptions with 42 for 434 yards and he was also the team’s second-leading rusher with 371 yards on 39 carries. His 9.5 yards per carry led the CAA.
In the fall of 2021, he had 119 rushing yards on 35 carries at UMaine and also had 11 catches for 114 yards. He played in two of the four spring games that year and caught six passes for 102 yards.
