After not missing a single game over his first three seasons in the NFL, Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has missed the team’s last four contests. The 24-year-old was placed on injured reserve back in mid-October while dealing with a hamstring injury, but after sitting out the four games required before returning from IR, Jefferson is still unlikely to return for the Vikings’ matchup with the Saints this weekend, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. 
Early on in Jefferson’s absence, Minnesota felt confident in his ability to return to the field quickly. Certain reports hinted that the team was not expecting Jefferson to require more than the four-week minimum requirement that a player must remain on IR before being activated back to the active roster.
While head coach Kevin O’Connell did acknowledge that the injury was “significant,” the Vikings certainly didn’t determine the ailment to be season-ending. Still, hamstring issues can linger persistently and naggingly, as we saw last year with both Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen and former Raiders tight end Darren Waller, who each missed at least seven games in 2022.
O’Connell did recently say that “it’s possible” the Vikings open up Jefferson’s 21-day practice window tomorrow, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, but the second-year head coach cautioned that the team is weary of doing anything that may set Jefferson back in his recovery. There are likely some steps that still need to be taken in order for that designation to be made. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the team is uncertain about his status and unable to make a decision on how to handle the young wideout because Jefferson still needs to meet with doctors.
So, while the Vikings could designate Jefferson to return from IR, opening his 21-day practice window to come off the injured list, if they make the designation too soon, and Jefferson experiences a setback that keeps him from coming back to the active roster, they risk losing Jefferson for the remainder of the year. The team will need to gather all the possible information to make sure that bringing him back to practice this week is the best decision for both parties, regardless of his current eligibility.
In the meantime, Minnesota will continue to spread the ball around in order to account for Jefferson’s absence. Since he was placed on IR, the Vikings are 4-0, including a back-and-forth win without quarterback Kirk Cousins last week. In the first three games without Jefferson, Minnesota had a different leading receiver in every contest as rookie Jordan Addison, K.J. Osborn, and tight end T.J. Hockenson all stepped up their contributions.
With Cousins out for the remainder of the year with a torn Achilles tendon, the continued ball distribution will be up to newly acquired quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who was forced to step in and lead his new team to victory when interim starting quarterback Jaren Hall went down with a concussion. It sounds like Dobbs will be forced to figure it out without Jefferson for at least another week.
If he has a setback, you don’t automatically lose him for the season. He could still be on the roster and not active like Zay Jones has been doing in Jacksonville. It just doesn’t help your roster management.
They have the Saints, Broncos, Bears, then the Bye coming up. They could take it week-to-week and try to maximize his rest. Sit him this week against the Saints. If they win, sit him next week. If they beat the Broncos, sit him against the Bears and he’ll get the Bye week as well.
Hamstring injuries are tough and can reoccur. Better to be cautious than to lose him for the year.
I think a valid argument could be made for sitting him longer or getting him back soon. Even if the Vikes stumble into a playoff berth they won’t be winning anything without Cousins. On the other hand a contract extension is pending with Jefferson so management needs to see how much that injury has affected Justin.
They weren’t going to win in the payoffs w/ Cousins either. It’s a poorly constructed team. Type can’t run the ball and their D is less than desirable. I’ve come around that Cousins can only do so much, similar to Stafford in Detroit.
The Vike’s are always drafting around 20-25 range. If they were sincere about a real ‘rebuild’ they would let Cousins walk and use JJ, along with their 1st, as a trade chip to move up for a rookie QB.
With that said, I’m 100% confident that the Vikings will role with another vet, Maybe Cousins, and pay JJ this offseason. Only to be drafting around the 20’s again the following year as well! Too many teams are that predictable.
I agree for the most part, but don’t think Cousins would’ve made much of a difference for winning a Super Bowl. Maybe for winning one playoff game, but their oline and defense just aren’t up to par with the rest of the teams that should make the playoffs.
I do think JJ needs to return to see how he plays with someone not named Cousins. They very well could resign Cousins next year, but they need to see what the offense can do without him.
If they can improve their oline that would immensely help the running game. Then they need some more pieces on defense, so they don’t just have to try and win a shoot out each week. If they find out that someone like Dobbs can put up similar numbers, but will sign for reasonably less than Cousins then that might be the route they take. Then they can use the financial relief at QB to sure up some of the other areas I mentioned.
If a QB is putting up similar numbers to Cousins and is told by his agent to sign for considerably less, then the first thing that QB should do is fire his agent.
I mean it’d be a small sample size that his agent can show that Dobbs put the numbers up in. If I am a GM I’m not doling out the same money for that as opposed to someone who has done it for multiple years. Maybe would do a short term agreement and a decent chunk guaranteed though. Geno Smith’s agreement is what comes to my mind, if Dobbs can put up some good numbers. Geno had a good year and was similar to what Cousins has done statistically but that’s just it, it was a good YEAR. He hadn’t done anything like that before (which would be the same as Dobbs), but he turned that into something like $25M per year, not the $35M+ that Cousins would most likely demand.