Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said last week that the next steps for T.J. Hockenson — how the second-year tight end could earn a bigger share of the passing attack — were “to continue to gain some separation and kind of come through with some big plays for us.”
The story said Hockenson has checked both those boxes. It added ahead of the Monday night game, here are the players who created more separation on their targets in Week 7, per Next Gen Stats: Deebo Samuel, 49ers (7.0 yards), Evan Engram, Giants (5.2 yards), Christian Kirk, Cardinals (5.1 yards). Hockenson checked in next at 5.0, matching Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf, Carolina’s Curtis Samuel and Atlanta tight end Hayden Hurst. The story added it was a big jump from previous weeks for Hockenson.