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Kevin O'Connell calls Aaron Jones fumble 'catastrophic'
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell met with reporters on Monday following the team's 23-13 win at Tennessee to improve to 8-2 on the season.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Vikings are 8-2 after a 23-13 win at the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, but Kevin O’Connell is still irked about their only turnover of the day.
It was on the Vikings’ opening drive, and Aaron Jones dropped a simple pitch from Sam Darnold. Vikings’ players scrambled to jump on it, Jones included, but the Titans recovered it. The Vikings held them to a field goal.
Technically, the fumble goes on Darnold’s stat sheet. He now leads the NFL with 14 turnovers, though he didn’t have any interceptions against the Titans after five in the previous two games combined. But it’s a pitch that Jones has to catch, it hit him in the chest. O’Connell called it "catastrophic" on Monday.
"This is the National Football League, we’ve got to execute tossing the football. Whosever fault it was, whoever takes the ultimate minus on the sheet, it’s catastrophic," O’Connell said. "We’ve had two of them happen early on in games and it can’t happen."
Adding another layer, the O’Connell went to the exact same play to start the next Vikings’ drive. Jones caught that one, and went for three yards. That drive ended in Darnold hitting Jordan Addison for a 47-yard touchdown.
But did O’Connell have that call as part of the look they got, or was he showing his confidence in Jones?
"Tossing the football? If we’re not going to be able to toss the football, we’ve got much bigger issues to work through," O’Connell said. "It’s unacceptable and I’ve got to get it fixed."
Josh Oliver has sprained ankle
O’Connell said tight end Josh Oliver has a sprained left ankle that they’ll have to monitor this week. Oliver finished with three catches for 34 yards. On the season, Oliver has 19 catches for 216 yards and three touchdowns. He's just three catches short of his career-high of 22, which was last season, with seven games still to play.
Addison also left the game with cramps, but appeared to be fine postgame talking with reporters in the locker room.
What’s next
The Vikings finish a three-game road trip at the Chicago Bears on Sunday.