Vikings Rumors Focus on Harrison Smith’s Return, the RB Verdict, and Comp Pick Update
VikingsTerritory diligently tracks all Vikings-themed rumors each week — without fail.
Vikings rumors this week center on Harrison Smith’s return, the running back lay of the land, and a fresh compensatory pick update.
We then log them in weekend articles for viewers’ reading, putting a bow on the last seven days’ worth of internet fodder.
This is the purple rumor mill for Week 2.
Vikings Rumors | September 13th, 2025
All the rumors in the purple team’s orbit.
Rumor: Harrison Smith is ramping up at practice and will return to the field within a couple of weeks.
Smith’s absence won’t continue for long.
A media member asked Smith if he would participate in practice for Week 2 ahead of Vikings-Falcons, and he said, ‘I’m just going to get out there and see how much I can handle and go from there. I’ve already moved around and moving around well, it’s just volume, conditioning, stuff like that.”
Smith then pulled down a “Questionable” status on the team’s final injury report, which probably means he will give it a go before the game on Sunday night and see how he feels. Sources clue VikingsTerritory in that Smith was battling a hernia, but later clarified it was hemorrhoids.
In any event, the man is close to a return.
Rumor: Jordan Mason is not the Vikings’ RB2 — but more like a co-RB1.
Aaron Jones saw action on 28 offensive plays on Monday night at the Bears and touched the rock 11 times. He banked 68 yards from scrimmage, with most of his production on a touchdown catch from a pass by J.J. McCarthy during the epic comeback.
Mason, conversely, was used in the offense on 30 plays and touched the football 16 times for 75 yards from scrimmage, with a sweet 4.6 yards per rushing attempt.
The Athletic’s Alec Lewis tweeted, “Jordan Mason averaged 3.86 yards after contact last night, per Tru Media Sports. That’s the highest a RB has posted in a game for the Vikings since head coach Kevin O’Connell got the job.”
Mason is the RB2 on the depth chart, but the hints are available to suggest that he and Jones are equitable contributors. The RB2 title may be window dressing, with Jones and Mason as shared RB1s.
The Viking Age’s Brad Berreman noted on Jones and Mason: “Jones had a nine-yard run during that series before catching the touchdown to give Minnesota the lead on a nice downfield route. Later in the fourth quarter, Mason ripped off a 19-yard run to increase how much more effective he was as a runner than Jones was. Both backs played a role in a late drive that killed a lot of clock and finished with a touchdown run from McCarthy that made it a two-score game.”
“Jones is not going away as an important piece of the Vikings offense. But Mason was acquired to take over a good share of the work in the run game, and on Monday, he quickly proved he’s up to that task.”
Rumor: Daniel Jones balled out, increasing the Vikings’ chances of a 4th-Round compensatory pick.
The Vikings can nab a 4th-Round draft pick if Daniel Jones plays 60.6% or more of offensive snaps for the Indianapolis Colts.
The Associated Press noted Jones’ performance in Week 1: “Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones delivered the perfect start. He was sharp, effective and consistent, and he helped the Colts snap the NFL’s longest active opening-day winless streak at 11. Now he needs to show he can repeat that performance.”
“Jones aced his first major test since beating out Anthony Richardson for the starting job nearly three weeks ago. He completed 22 of 29 throws for 272 yards — including a career-high 197 yards in the first half — scored twice on 1-yard runs, made all the right calls at the line of scrimmage and had no turnovers while taking only one sack. The result: He earned his first win as a starting QB since last Oct. 6 for the New York Giants, the team that cast him aside later that year.”
Therefore, Jones is on the right track to keep his QB1 job, with Anthony Richardson a distant option at the moment. Jones’ Colts beat down the Miami Dolphins by a score of 33-8 last weekend.
In theory, if Jones were benched or injured, thus falling below the 60.6%, Minnesota would earn a 5th-Rounder, not a 4th.
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