Despite Justin Jefferson being listed as questionable for Monday night’s game against Chicago, the Minnesota Vikings will exercise caution with their standout wide receiver Monday night and he is considered unlikely to play, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Minnesota has a bye next week and the belief is that Jefferson is expected to be ready post bye for the Dec. 10 game at Las Vegas, the source says.
Jefferson injured his right hamstring Oct. 8 and the Vikings opened his window return to practice Nov. 8. The team has slowly ramped up his exertion levels over the past three weeks, but Jefferson has not yet fully participated in a practice and he is listed as questionable on this week’s injury report.
Jefferson said this week that he had run full speed at certain points in practice, and coach Kevin O’Connell said Saturday that Jefferson “took part in some team reps.”
The hamstring injury has caused Jefferson to miss games for the first time in his prolific four-year career. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year had 36 catches, 571 yards and three touchdowns on 53 targets in the first five weeks.
Jefferson said Friday that sitting out against the Bears is “definitely not something I want to do” but added that being patient “comes with the game, it comes with trying to be healthy, trying to be 100 percent and [following] the safe route.”
Ultimately, Jefferson said, “we’re going to weigh the options correctly, making sure that I’m feeling well and prepared to play a game, and if I’m feeling good I will play.”
Information from ESPN’s Kevin Seifert and The Associated Press was used in this report.