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CHICAGO – One Vikings running back held court with media at least three separate times in the visitor’s locker room late Monday night at Soldier Field.
The other Vikings running back’s locker was emptied fast, and he exited to the team bus before being caught for comment on his big night.
One hauled in a pass for the longest touchdown of the game. The other led both teams in rushing yards as the Vikings beat the Bears 27-24.
Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason have distinct differences in their personalities and play styles, but both brought critical boosts to the Vikings offense in its comeback win over the Bears on Monday night.
The joint performance was one the Vikings envisioned when they acquired Mason via trade with the 49ers in March, as they added a rusher who could bring physicality and more evenly split reps with Jones in order to keep both fresh.
While the exact dynamic of the new tandem started to become clear in training camp, it entered full focus in their first game together: Jones, the multi-faceted threat able to be another set of reliable hands in the receiving game for young quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and Mason, the wrecking ball of a back who can and will destroy a defender or two for some extra yards.
“That boy’s a bruiser out there,” Jones said of Mason, who left the locker room quickly. “He’s not easy to take down. ... It’s definitely a blessing to play with a back like that — somebody to take a little bit of the load off of you as well.”
Mason’s first carry didn’t come until the Vikings’ third drive of the night, after they’d exited the field three-and-out twice before.
He popped off a pair of 6-yard pickups to move the chains for the Vikings for the first time. The Vikings closed the drive with a 31-yard field goal from Will Reichard.
Mason never broke free into an open field — his longest rushes were for 18 and 19 yards — but if he’d been given one, it’s hard to imagine he could’ve been stopped.
“It’s just so fun when you watch a guy run, and you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s not a tackle,’” McCarthy said postgame.
Mason finished with 15 carries for 68 yards. Jones carried eight times for 23 yards, and the Vikings’ remaining 29 rushing yards came predominantly from McCarthy.
Jones’ bigger contributions Monday came in the receiving game.
He caught all three of his targets, good for 44 yards, and the 27-yard touchdown that gave the Vikings their first lead in the fourth quarter, with 9:46 remaining.
The scoring route was one McCarthy and Jones executed successfully a few times throughout training camp; Jones breaks out of the backfield around right tackle Brian O’Neill and heads deep, slanting outside the numbers after about 10 yards up the field.
“We’ve been practicing,” Jones said. “It’s funny, after we ran it, [offensive coordinator] Wes [Phillips] goes, ‘That’s been in the queue. We’ve been practicing that one.’ And I’m like, ‘You’re 100% right.’ This shows you practice pays off, and I’m just glad they trusted me in that situation.”
Jones said the success of the play comes when head coach Kevin O’Connell decides to call it at just the right time. Jones lines up wide to go deep on some other plays, like the one that ended up drawing a 42-yard defensive pass interference on Bears safety Nahshon Wright in the first half. It’s starting the play in the backfield that throws defenders off. Typically, he runs an out-breaking or flat route if he’s not at the line for the snap.
McCarthy said he wished he dropped it more in stride for Jones so he hadn’t needed to turn away from the defender to score.
Over at least the next two weeks, as No. 2 receiver Jordan Addison remains out because of suspension, the Vikings are likely to call on Jones to have a heavier presence in the receiving game.
They did so last year while Addison was out because of an injury, but didn’t have a complement like Mason to keep the ground game anchored.
O’Connell said he probably should’ve dialed up more rushing attempts in the first half Monday. The Vikings were trying to minimize third downs, or at least third-and-longs, for McCarthy in his debut.
But it sounded like he saw what he needed to trust Mason and Jones to deliver as a backfield pair.
“Having Jordan’s physicality with keeping Aaron as fresh as we could, and then being able to use him as a weapon in the pass game as well, it kind of came together in a way when we needed it most,” O’Connell said.
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