Vikings running back Aaron Jones welcomes a heavy workload. Can he keep it up?

After the Vikings defeated the Green Bay Packers last month, head coach Kevin O’Connell gave an impassioned speech in the locker room at Lambeau Field.

He praised his players for pulling off a victory over their biggest rivals, highlighting some standout performances from the game itself and then turned his attention to veteran running back Aaron Jones who was up front.

“This man changed our team,” O’Connell said. “This man changed our organization.”

That moment perfectly summed up the impact Jones has made on and off the court since signing with the Vikings. After being released by the Packers because he wouldn’t take a pay cut, Jones has proven to be worth every penny to the Vikings.

The production speaks for itself, as Jones was the final straw that put the Vikings in charge this season, with 104 carries for 501 yards and a pair of touchdowns, along with 22 receptions for 227 yards and a touchdown.

The only problem is that it has been a heavy workload for Jones. He has already made 262 offensive plays as the main ball carrier for the Vikings. He’s also currently on pace to shatter his career high for touches out of the backfield.

Not that Jones seems too concerned. Although some people worry that the heavy usage will cause it to wear out sooner or later, it has always prided itself on being able to carry a heavy workload.

It doesn’t matter that he will be 30 years old in a few months.

“I feel healthy,” Jones said. “I feel good.”

Still, the Vikings need to be careful with Jones, especially if they want him to be at the peak of his powers when they make the playoffs.

That explains why O’Connell vowed to get Ty Chandler back and get Cam Akers more involved in the progress.

“We’re going to have to make sure those guys get some attention,” O’Connell said. “We have to keep thinking about the snap counts going into games.”

That’s something offensive coordinator Wes Phillips also reiterated when asked how the Vikings have used Jones this season.

“He really wants to be there the whole game,” Phillips said. “We have to be smart, and we have to be the people who say, ‘Hey, this series goes to Ty, or this series goes to Cam.’”

If anything is clear from talking to O’Connell and Phillips, it’s that as much as the Vikings will try their hardest to give Jones a breather here and there, he will still be a focal point of the offense.

That’s exactly how Jones likes it.

“As long as I stick to the game plan, I’ll be fine,” Jones said. “I don’t have to touch it a certain number of times. If I don’t touch it, it’s fine. This is the game I love and I just want to be on the field with my brothers.”