Aaron Jones on leaving Packers for Vikings: 'God doesn't make mistakes'

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Vikings continued mandatory mini camp on Wednesday at TCO Performance Center, and one of the more interested spectators on the practice field was owner Zygi Wilf.

That’s a day after the team made a long-term commitment to star receiver Justin Jefferson, keeping him in Minnesota on a four-year, $140 million deal with $110 million guaranteed. After Wednesday’s workout in extremely windy conditions, Jonathan Greenard, Aaron Jones and Jordan Addison were among the players to speak with reporters.

Greenard is one of the biggest offseason free agents to come to the Vikings after spending his first four seasons with the Houston Texans. He 12.5 sacks in 15 starts last season, and the hope is he can fill the void left by Danielle Hunter in Brian Flores’ defense. So what does that look like?

"Aggressive. Knowing Flores and how he gets down, Flo going to dial it up. Having that aggressive style makes teams play on our terms. I love it, I’m all about that," Greenard said.

Greenard also brought a post-practice team bonding activity with him from the Texans: 10-minute abs. Wednesday, he and a group of defensive teammates spent 10 minutes doing a variety of crunches and core work.

"When we first started doing this ab thing, we probably had two people out here. Now you see the DBs out here and the D-line. Everybody is doing it," Greenard said. "Why not get 10 minutes of abs? You keep having the core strong, everything else is going to be better. And having a six pack, let’s not lie."

Jones is another free agent acquisition, and one of many to make the move from Green Bay across the border to Minnesota. The Packers let him walk after he didn’t want to take a pay cut for the second straight season. He ran for 656 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games in 2023. He spent seven seasons with the Packers, but now is the leader of the Vikings’ running back room with Alexander Mattison and Dalvin Cook out. He’ll pair with Ty Chandler, and possibly Kene Nwangwu this season.

He said coming to Minnesota was ‘God’s plan."

God doesn’t make mistakes. It’s not by chance that I’m here, it’s God’s plan. This is a great place to be, great teammates, great community. The city is very welcoming, I love it here," Jones said.

Addison is looking to build off a promising rookie season where the first round pick 70 catches for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’ll get a chance to have a big role early this season, with T.J. Hockenson working his way back from major knee surgery.

He’s no longer the rookie in the receiver room.

"I feel like that makes me better. I get to go back over and coach them, like this is what you’re supposed to be doing. Throughout that process, I learn more," Addison said.

The Vikings have one more day of mandatory mini camp on Thursday, and finishing up organized team activities next week before a six-week summer break. Then, the season starts with training camp.