Cam Akers is grateful to be returning to Minnesota

Akers signed with the Texans in July and played five games for them this season, totaling 40 carries for 147 yards and one touchdown. He also recorded four catches for 16 yards and a receiving TD – which he scored for the Texans in Week 3 at US Bank Stadium.

O'Connell noted that Minnesota never stopped keeping tabs on Akers.

“Cam was someone we didn't necessarily want to give away to anyone else last offseason, but that happens a lot with good football players,” O'Connell said. “We thank (general manager) Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) and his people for completing the deal to bring Cam back here.”

The mutual respect between O'Connell and Akers was reflected in their two media sessions.

“(My career) has been a journey, and you don't really meet people and coaches like KO who really care about the person,” Akers said. “They also care about the business, but they also care about the person. You know, that's a knockout. That's him. You know, he obviously wants to win, he wants the best for the team, but he cares about the person.”

O'Connell called the addition of Akers a “profound move” for the Vikings' running back corps and asserted that there is no direct correlation to the health of Aaron Jones Sr., who is expected to be “week-to-week.” Week” suffers from a thigh injury.

“Aaron will progress as the week goes on and hopefully he has a chance on Sunday,” O’Connell said. “Ty Chandler and Myles Gaskin and Cam will be working behind him. I like where Ty is at and obviously Aaron Jones has had a big, big impact on our team. So I need to solidify that depth at the position with the urgency to lead that. “We wanted to make sure we could do that now when the opportunity presents itself.”