It’s unclear if Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson will make his return to the field this weekend when the Vikings host the Detroit Lions. The team listed him as questionable ahead of the matchup on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium.

That Hockenson is on the injury report in any capacity, however, is a testament to how hard he’s worked to recover from the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee he suffered Dec. 24 against the Lions. He’s spent hours upon hours upon hours at TCO Performance Center working his way back to full strength.

The payoff is right around the corner.

“I’m bigger, stronger, faster than ever,” Hockenson said. “Now I’m ready to go out there and play ball.”

As he reflected this week on the toughest stretch of his career, Hockenson spared no details about the recovery process. He lauded the Vikings time and time again for how they have handled everything over the past 10 months.

“They have been incredible,” Hockenson said. “I can’t say enough good things.”

The common theme from the Vikings was going above and beyond to make sure Hockenson was comfortable and in good hands. It started with them sending Hockenson to Los Angeles to get surgery from renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

The next step for the Vikings was regularly checking up on Hockenson in Nashville, with vice president of player health and performance Tyler Williams, head athletic trainer Matt Duhamel and assistant athletic trainer David Jantzi all making an effort to be involved.

That made for a seamless transition once Hockenson returned to the Twin Cities for organized team activities in the spring and training camp in the summer.

“There have been so many checks marked,” Hockenson said. “It’s been a smooth transition from every single part of the recovery process because of the guys in there.”

The most interesting part was listening to Hockenson talk about some of he work he did on the field at TCO Performance Center. He had data trackers designed to monitor his progress attached to him every step of the way.

“It really kept me on track and pushed me,” Hockenson said. “I’m looking at the iPad and it tells me halfway through the workout, ‘Hey, we’re at 1,500 yards, and we need to get another 2,000 yards to hit 3,500 yards.’”

Those yardage numbers coincided with how much his teammates were running during training camp. Never mind that Hockenson couldn’t participate in training camp alongside them. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t cutting any corners in the recovery process.

“I was trying to keep up with them as much as I could,” Hockenson said. “If they were at 3,500 yards, I would try to hit 3,500 yards. If they were at 4,000 yards, I would try to hit 4,000 yards. It is incredible how far the technology has come and how well the Vikings use that.”

Occasionally, Hockenson would complete a workout with Williams, Duhamel or Jantzi before he hit the yardage number. They would then ask him what type of workout he wanted to do to hit the yardage number.

“Not everybody has the ego to do that,” Hockenson said. “These guys have been incredible with giving me some power to be able to push what I need.”

It culminated this week with Hockenson getting back on the field with his teammates at TCO Performance Center. All the work he’s put in up to this point has prepared him to make his return whenever he’s cleared by the Vikings.

Though he would love for that to be as soon as this weekend, Hockenson will continue to defer to the Vikings until the very end. He’s learned throughout the recovery process that they have his best interest in mind.

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