- Hockenson got up to speed rapidly and was a big part of the Vikings’ game plan.
- He landed in Minnesota on Tuesday night.
- Hockenson took the field as the lone tight end in 11 personnel on the first play of the game
T.J. Hockenson played for Minnesota five days after being traded from the Lions to the Vikings, catching nine passes on nine targets for 70 yards.
After the game, Hockenson discussed his hectic week with PFT.
Hockenson said by phone, “I received the call around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, boarded a plane around 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night, landed around 9:00 p.m. in Minneapolis, went to the facility, got my iPad, woke up at 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday for a physical, and hit the ground running.”
Wednesday saw a central offensive installation. Coaches [Brian Angelichio] and [Kevin O’Connell] performed a fantastic job assisting me in learning the offense. Putting me in a position to achieve success.
“On Wednesday, I stayed up late to ensure that I grasped everything in the base plan, and on Thursday, I did the same for the third-down package. You must arrive early and remain late to learn it. They say that Friday is a “quick Friday,” but I spent some time there after everyone had left to ensure that I memorized the entire game plan.
Ensuring that I could be v a part of this when they needed me and that no one said, “He doesn’t know what’s going on” or “He doesn’t know that.” I didn’t want that to be the focus, and that was something I put on myself as soon as I arrived.”
Hockenson needed to learn a new offense for the fourth time in his career. This time, he had four days to complete the task. It is comparable to learning a new language, he agreed. The fact that the Lions had previously faced the Commanders allowed him to devote less work to a defense he was already familiar with and more time to studying the Vikings’ playbook.
Regarding learning a new offense, Hockenson stated, “Just being able to kind of rewind my mind quickly and comprehend what’s going on with like what our aim is on each play and just trying to figure out the whole scheme and the overall principles.”
“There is a slight difference between reading and hearing a sentence. Every night, I read it on my phone, voice-recorded it, then put on my headphones to listen to it play again. Being in four different offenses, these are simple techniques I’ve learned to memorize and execute information more quickly.
It was a success, and Hockenson is already feeling at ease. How cozy are you? The only reason it’s not a 10 is that he’s still staying in a hotel, he claimed.
