Minnesota Vikings tight end Robert Tonyan addressed the media from the TCO Performance Center during Minicamp. Tonyan joined the Vikings' roster this offseason after playing for the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions. He's in like to perform tight end duties with T.J. Hockenson's ongoing injury recovery.
The Minnesota Vikings and tight end Robert Tonyan appeared to avoid “the big one” on Wednesday.
About a week after cornerback Mekhi Blackmon was lost for the 2024 season with a torn ACL, Tonyan, too, was injured at Vikings training camp in Eagan, and folks feared the worst.
KARE11’s Julia Daniels tweeted, “Vikings tight end Robert Tonyan is being carted off the practice field. No word on what the injury is, but he has been laying on his back for a while before they brought the cart out.”
Soon after the injury, however, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert posted on the X app, “TE Robert Tonyan left practice because of back spasms. Timetable uncertain.”
While back spasms aren’t nothing, the prognosis for recovery is significantly smoother than Blackmon’s torn ACL, for example. The ailment shouldn’t threaten the start of the regular season, and Minnesota will need Tonyan — or someone — to fill in for TE1 T.J. Hockenson, who is also recovering from a torn ACL. Most expect Hockenson to miss the first handful of games in 2024, though his timetable is progressing quite well.
Tonyan, 30, experienced a quiet season with the Chicago Bears in 2023, receiving just 17 targets in 17 games while banking 11 receptions for 112 yards. Before last season, Tonyan spent five years in Green Bay, with 1,437 yards on 148 catches for 17 touchdowns in 68 games as a Packer. At times, he was one of Aaron Rodgers’ favorite targets.
He’s also the most recent in a long list of Packers deserters to join the Vikings in the last few years, including Bashaud Breeland, Chandon Sullivan, Za’Darius Smith, Dean Lowry, Aaron Jones — and now Tonyan.
For context, this is Minnesota’s TE room at the start of August:
Avoiding major injury was crucial for Tonyan and the Vikings because the free-agent pool is severely limited. The only notable veteran available on the open market is Jimmy Graham. Several TE3 types could’ve been explored, but Minnesota already employs a few.
Meanwhile, expectations for Tonyan are lofty. In June, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis tweeted, “Robert Tonyan has looked great in minicamp. No hyperbole. Catching everything, snagged multiple passes in red-zone period today, outstretched arms, toe-tapping in corner of the end zone. Just impressive.”
Thankfully, he should recover from the back spasms before too long.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.