T.J. Hockenson played for the Vikings five days after being traded from the Lions, catching nine passes on nine targets for 70 yards.
Hockenson told PFT about his difficult week after the game.
“I received the call at 1:30 on Tuesday and hopped on a plane about 7:00 on Tuesday night, landed at about 9:00 in Minneapolis, went to the facility, got my iPad, woke up at 6:00 AM on Wednesday for a physical and sort of hit the ground running,” Hockenson said by phone. Wednesday’s offensive installation was huge. Coaches Brian Angelichio and Kevin O’Connell helped me master the offense. Making me succeed. Wednesday was spent reviewing the base plan, and Thursday was the third-down package. To learn it, arrive early and stay late. Friday is “fast Friday,” but I stayed in there after everyone left to make sure I had the complete game plan. Making sure I was out there and part of this when they needed me and there was no, ‘Hey, he doesn’t know what’s going on,’ or ‘Hey, he doesn’t know that.’ I didn’t want that to be the focus, and I placed it on myself when I arrived here.”
Hockenson learned a new offense for the fourth time. He had four days this time. He concurred. He spent less time studying the Commanders’ defense and more time studying the Vikings’ playbook because the Lions had already faced them.
“Just being able to kind of rewind my mind fast and comprehend what’s going on with like what our purpose is on each play and just trying to figure out the whole system and the overall concepts,” Hockenson said of learning a new playbook. “Reading is different from hearing. I read it every night on my phone, voice-recorded it, and listened to it with my headphones. Being in four offenses, I’ve learnt techniques to memorize and execute faster.
Hockenson is now comfortable. Comfortable? He gave it a 9.5, saying the only reason it’s not a 10 is because he’s still staying in a hotel.
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