Vikings Add Brett Jones to 53-Man Roster
Josh Frey
|
The Vikings got some very unfortunate news when Pat Elflein injured his thumb on Thursday. It has been reported that he is going to require surgery, and the Vikings placed him on IR yesterday afternoon.
Today Minnesota added some depth to the roster in order to help fill the void left by Elflein, who played every snap of the Vikings’ week one loss. Brett Jones was a player that many thought would be the backup center going into the season, but he was cut at the end of training camp.
It was a very surprising move considering he played 14 games with the team in 2018, and two in 2019 before being placed on IR in November. The Vikings eventually brought him back on the practice squad, but it didn’t seem like Jones was going to get his chance in 2020.
Source says the #Vikings are signing center Brett Jones to the 53-man roster to replace guard Pat Elflein, who went Thursday to injured reserve.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) September 18, 2020
Well, it turns out he is going to get his chance after all. According to Chris Tomasson, the veteran backup has been signed, and he will add some much needed depth to a line that goes up against star DT DeForest Buckner this week in Indianapolis.
As mentioned, Jones spent 2018 and 2019 filling in as a backup for the Vikings, but before that, he was an impactful player for the New York Giants. He started 13 games in 2017 for the Giants and played 89% of the team’s snaps.
Jones has also been a very disciplined player throughout his career. He has committed just three penalties in his 46 games played. Hopefully this will rub off on rookie Ezra Cleveland and a few others as the Vikings had four offensive linemen commit six or more penalties during 2019.