Aaron Jones rewards the Vikings’ belief in him after ‘roller coaster’ afternoon against the Cardinals

There should be no questioning the Vikings’ belief in Aaron Jones.

Or more pointedly, coach Kevin O’Connell’s belief in his 30-year-old running back.

Jones had a forgettable start — or forgettable first 3½ quarters — to Sunday’s 23-22 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. He fumbled twice on four touches in the first quarter. He didn’t see the field again until the end of the second quarter, when he was tackled for a 4-yard loss during a screen pass. Jones also dropped a possible touchdown catch at the top of the fourth quarter.

Yet Jones was the guy targeted by O’Connell and quarterback Sam Darnold for the game-winning touchdown pass with just 78 seconds left in regulation.

“For me, it was a roller coaster,” Jones said. “But I’m thankful for the guys in this locker room that keep my head up, keep me up. Coach [O’Connell] as well, he’s like, ‘We’re going to come back to you. Keep your head up.’ And it ended up happening at the end at the most important time.”

Jones had just eight touches for 28 yards and a touchdown, and that score came after everything had seemingly gone against him throughout the afternoon.

Vikings coaches benched Jones for what amounted to eight consecutive plays over two drives, ceding reps to running backs Cam Akers and Ty Chandler, who converted a third down during a field-goal drive.

Then O’Connell went back to Jones, who still led Vikings runners with 28 snaps (53%).

“You guys can see it all over his face the disappointment he has,” O’Connell said. “There’s a reason why I called the play I did in the end. He’s one of our best players and is going to continue to be one of our best players. There’s not a guy in that locker room that doesn’t absolutely love playing with Aaron Jones, and we’ve got his back without any hesitation.”

Belief can only go so far.

Jones knows he has to hold onto the ball after four fumbles in the past three games. For the first time in his eight-year NFL career, Jones has fumbled in three consecutive games. He has already tied his career-high of five fumbles in 2022.

He didn’t blame a rib injury suffered in the Nov. 10 victory at Jacksonville, which kept him on the team’s injury report for the next two games against the Titans and Bears. He has fumbled in each game since the injury.

“Don’t know,” Jones said. “Just have to go back and look at the film. I can’t make any excuses. That’s not me. So, I’m not going to make an excuse. Go back and look at the film. But I gotta be better. Talked to [running backs coach Curtis Modkins], and he said we’ll figure out what’s going on and correct it. But it’s even more frustrating because it’s not me and it’s happened more than I’d like recently. But I’ll get that fixed.”

Both of Jones’ fumbles Sunday were punched out by Cardinals cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting. The first was recovered by right tackle Brian O’Neill during a 2-yard run.

“I’ve got unwavering belief in him,” O’Neill said. “He made up for it, and he’ll make up for it for the rest of the year, too, just with what he’s brought to our offense.”

Jones leads the Vikings with 1,111 yards from scrimmage; only seven NFL running backs have produced more through Week 13 this season.

The second Jones fumble was knocked loose during a 5-yard catch that O’Connell said was among the missed opportunities for receiver Justin Jefferson, whom O’Connell alluded to being open on the play. Jefferson had just two catches for 32 yards at halftime, but finished with seven catches for 99 yards.

“That was a checkdown and the ball gets punched out,” O’Connell said. “Might’ve had [Jefferson] there.”

Jones nearly had a touchdown grab at the start of the fourth quarter, but the ball fell off his outstretched fingertips in the corner of the end zone.

“Sam threw a dime,” Jones said. “It was in my hands I felt like when I was pulling it in, going to the ground is when I bobbled it and lost track of it. Even when I ran off then, [O’Connell] was like, ‘Hey, we’re coming right back to you.’ That just means a lot when things aren’t going your way.

“This wasn’t my best day,” Jones added. “But when you got a group of guys around you that believe in you, they’re going to stick with you.”

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