EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The ailing Minnesota Vikings placed running back Aaron Jones Sr. on injured reserve on Wednesday, requiring him to miss a minimum of four games with a hamstring injury suffered during what has become a costly defeat in the home opener.
With quarterback J.J. McCarthy likely out for multiple weeks with a sprained ankle that occurred in that 22-6 loss to Atlanta, the Vikings also signed Desmond Ridder, the starter in 2023 for the Falcons, to the active roster for more depth behind Carson Wentz and undrafted rookie Max Brosmer.
Jordan Mason, who was in an even share of the backfield load with the nine-year veteran Jones, will become the clear featured ball carrier with promising undrafted rookie Zavier Scott behind him on the depth chart. The Vikings also signed old friend Cam Akers to the practice squad, after acquiring the sixth-year running back in separate in-season trades in 2023 with the Los Angeles Rams and 2024 with the Houston Texans.
Mason, who was acquired in an offseason trade with San Francisco, rushed for 667 yards in the first seven games last season for the 49ers while stepping in for the injured Christian McCaffrey.
“Jordan clearly has already shown his ability to be a heavy runner with yards after contact and all those things,” coach Kevin O'Connell said. “I’m not sure we could have more confidence in Jordan as a potential bell-cow kind of back.”
Jones had a career-high 1,138 rushing yards last season while starting all 17 games in his first season with the Vikings.
Ty Chandler, who began last season as the second option in the backfield before Akers arrived, was placed on IR last week after injuring his knee in the opener on a kickoff return. Two-time Pro Bowl fullback C.J. Ham also started the season on IR with a knee injury and must sit out at least two more games.
Akers, who was released at the end of training camp by the New Orleans Saints, became a favorite of O'Connell and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips during their time together with the Rams that ended with a Super Bowl trophy after the 2021 season.
In 12 regular-season games last year for the Vikings, Akers had 64 carries for 297 yards for a career-best average of 4.6 yards per attempt. He also had 10 catches for 52 yards and totaled three touchdowns.
Ridder was a third-round pick by the Falcons in 2022 out of Cincinnati, whom he helped lead to a College Football Playoff semifinal berth. He passed for 12 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with a 64.2% completion rate and 2,836 yards in 2023, plus five rushing scores. The following year, when the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins and drafted Michael Penix Jr., Ridder was traded to the Arizona Cardinals for wide receiver and return specialist Rondale Moore.
Ridder was eventually signed off the Cardinals’ practice squad by the Las Vegas Raiders in 2024 and made one start there. He was cut at the end of training camp last month by the Cincinnati Bengals, who visit the Vikings this Sunday.
McCarthy, who was not at practice on Wednesday, has been wearing a walking boot around the facility, along with his usual positive vibes, O'Connell said.
“When he’s not getting treatment, he's still heavily involved in meetings and installs with great energy and enthusiasm to attack it any way he can for now,” O'Connell said. “That’ll be able to build and progress from there.”
Neither center Ryan Kelly nor left tackle Justin Skule, who were both pulled from the Atlanta game and placed in the concussion protocol, was at practice on Wednesday. Edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel, wearing a red non-contact jersey, was back on the field, raising the possibility of the defense getting two key starters back to play the Bengals if 14th-year safety Harrison Smith can clear the final hurdle in his return from a personal health matter that set back his conditioning last month.
Then there's the unclear status of left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who has not yet completed his comeback from ACL and MCL surgery with Skule starting the first two games in his place. O'Connell didn't offer much of a hint on Wednesday when asked if Darrisaw would be able to make his season debut against the Bengals.
“Christian's expectations and desire to be out on the field is driving everything right now. He's continuing to try to get to a place where not only he's comfortable with that, but that he feels ready to go for what's out in front of him,” O'Connell said. “What that means for this weekend remains to be seen. It's an ongoing process, and one we all knew was coming and expected.”
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Minnesota Vikings' J.J. McCarthy speaks after an NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons,, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
FILE - Minnesota Vikings running back Cam Akers (27) runs from Los Angeles Rams safety Quentin Lake (37) during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr., left, celebrates after scoring as teammate T.J. Hockenson (87) watches during the second half of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears Monday, Sept. 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — As civil rights advocates protest, Republican lawmakers in several Southern states are seizing on the opportunity afforded by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to redraw congressional districts ahead of the November midterm elections.
The latest state to jump on the redistricting bandwagon is Tennessee, where a special legislative session is to begin Tuesday, a day after a similar session kicked off in Alabama. In Louisiana, lawmakers also are making plans for new U.S. House districts after the Supreme Court last week struck down the state's current map.
The high court’s ruling said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The ruling significantly altered a decades-old understanding of the law and gave Republicans in various states grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats.
It could lessen congressional representation for Black Americans and other minorities, reversing decades of gains in minority voting rights.
President Donald Trump has been encouraging more states to join in redistricting as Republicans seek to hold on to their narrow House majority in this year’s elections.
Alabama lawmakers were to hear testimony Tuesday on legislation that would allow a special congressional primary, if the Supreme Court clears the way for the state to change its U.S. House districts.
In light of the court's ruling on Louisiana's districts, Alabama officials have asked the high court to set aside a judicial order to use a U.S. House map that includes two districts with a substantial number of Black voters and instead let the state revert to a map previously passed by Republican lawmakers. That map could help the GOP win at least one of those two seats currently held by Democrats.
Alabama's primaries are scheduled for May 19. If the Supreme Court grants the state's request after or too close to the primary, the legislation under consideration would ignore the results of that primary and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under the revised districts.
“This is the voice of the people,” Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter said while promoting the Republican plan. “We had three judges determine how five million people were supposed to vote, and I don’t think that’s the way.”
Several hundred people protested Monday shortly before Alabama's special session began, some carrying signs declaring “No new map” and “We fight back! Black Voters Matter.” Opponents of the redistricting session gathered across the street from the historic Alabama Capitol, where the Confederacy was formed in 1861 and where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed a crowd of thousands after the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march.
“Much blood, sweat and tears was shed in an effort for us to gain the right to vote,” said Sheyann Webb-Christburg, who as a child participated in the 1965 Bloody Sunday voting rights march in Selma. “In 2026, there are still people who are still not exercising that right to vote, and we are still fighting today, even in an effort to keep our right to vote.”
Republican Gov. Bill Lee called Tennessee lawmakers into a special session to consider a plan that could break up the state’s lone Democratic-held U.S. House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis. The move comes after pressure from Trump.
The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6.
Some clergy members have denounced the plan to split Memphis’ congressional district, and Martin Luther King III sent a letter to Tennessee legislative leaders expressing “grave concern” about it.
“This decision undermines the work that my father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., carried out to help secure passage of the Voting Rights Act,” he wrote, noting that his father was assassinated in Memphis. He added: “Do not dismantle the only Congressional district that provides Black voters in Memphis a fair opportunity to have a voice in our democracy. Do not take this nation back to the days of Jim Crow.”
After last week’s Supreme Court decision, Louisiana moved to delay its May 16 congressional primary to allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts.
Louisiana state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Republican who chairs a Senate committee tasked with redistricting, told The Associated Press that his committee plans to hold a public hearing Friday. Kleinpeter said lawmakers are still weighing their options, including bills that would eliminate one or both of the state’s two majority-Black Congressional districts.
Democrats and civil rights groups have filed several lawsuits challenging the suspension of Louisiana's congressional primary, including another filed Monday in federal court. They are encouraging people in Louisiana — where early voting already is underway — to go ahead and cast votes in the congressional primaries in case courts later allow them to be counted.
Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn only once a decade, after a census, to account for population changes. But Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw U.S. House districts to give the party an advantage. Democrats in California responded by doing the same, and then other states joined in.
Florida became the eighth state to enact new House districts when Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Monday he had signed a redrawn map passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature. It could help Republicans win as many as four additional House seats. The new map was immediately challenged in court as a partisan gerrymander that violates a Florida constitutional provision against drawing districts that favor one political party over another.
All told, Republicans think they could gain as many as 13 seats from new congressional districts in five states, while Democrats think they could pick up as many as 10 seats from new districts adopted in three states. The newly proposed redistricting in Southern states could add to the Republicans’ tally.
Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama, and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press writers Jack Brook in New Orleans and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.
FILE - Pansies bloom in front of the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., April 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)
FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
