Analysis: Believe it or not, T.J. Hockenson still plays for the Vikings. J.J. McCarthy needs him.

Seven words came to mind while digesting the fact that an out-of-sync J.J. McCarthy had more incompletions (22) than completions (20) while going 7 of 23 (30.4%) when targeting Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison in Sunday’s 27-19 loss to the Ravens at U.S. Bank Stadium …

Is T.J. Hockenson still on the team?

You remember T.J., right?

Tall guy. Long hair. Good hands. Makes $16.5 million a year, fourth highest among NFL tight ends behind San Francisco’s George Kittle ($19.1 million), Arizona’s Trey McBride ($19 million) and Taylor Swift’s Travis Kelce ($17.1 million).

Yes, we have confirmed that Hockenson is indeed still a Viking. The NFL says he played 60 snaps on Sunday, good for 91% of the Vikings’ offensive plays.

He was targeted twice. He caught both, for a combined 8 yards.

And that, folks, brings his totals over the last three games to eight targets, six catches and 45 yards.

Three Novembers ago, Hockenson arrived from Detroit on a Wednesday after the trade deadline. He started and played 59 snaps (also 91%) against Washington four days later.

He was targeted nine times in his first 57 minutes as a Viking. He caught nine balls, converted three third downs and had four total first downs.

He’s still on the right side of 30 and hasn’t lost a step. So he sure seems like an ideal receptacle for McCarthy to turn to for easier completions when he’s out of rhythm and playing with the jackrabbit heartbeat of a 22-year-old Type A NFL quarterback with four career starts.

All these numbers were gathered before heading to TCO Performance Center on Monday. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell would be presented with the argument that he’s not using Hockenson correctly at a time when his young QB needs his elite tight end security blanket.

It wasn’t exactly Tom Cruise pushing Jack Nicholson into admitting he ordered the code red in “A Few Good Men” because, well, K.O. agreed right away.

Well, my work here is done. Sean McVay is on Line 2.

In O’Connell’s defense, there were reasons on Sunday that Hockenson disappeared. K.O. spelled them out.

There was a third down when McCarthy “was playing fast and just got off of” Hockenson as the primary target while converting with a pass to Jalen Nailor.

There were four “blocked shots” — O’Connell’s term for passes batted down at the line of scrimmage — that could have resulted in McCarthy finding Hockenson.

And, of course, there were those eight false starts. Yes, eight.

Nothing messes up manageable D&Ds quite like eight false starts in the final three quarters. The Vikings had five first-and-10s become first-and-15. With that comes the need for longer completions to wideouts and extra protection duties for Hockenson.

But, as O’Connell himself admitted, there are no excuses. If Hockenson is making elite tight end money, feed him like one.

It’s one of the easiest ways along with a running game — not exactly a strength of the Vikings — to keep McCarthy from needing a paper bag to breathe into.

“Quarterback is such a rhythmic thing,” O’Connell said. “Seeing the ball go through the net can help. That’s where T.J. comes into play. The running backs [too] can steal the rhythm in a lot of ways if it’s been lost.”

Agreed. Now go and do it.