Barring a setback to his hamstring injury, Justin Jefferson should return to the field for the Minnesota Vikings this season. Kevin O’Connell was asked if he thinks it could be season-ending and he replied, “I do not. No.”
“With hamstrings, I don’t want to speculate on when exactly it’ll be. But I know he feels pretty good considering where some guys feel at this point in the process,” O’Connell said Wednesday, 24 hours after it was reported Jefferson would go on injured reserve with the hamstring injury he suffered in the fourth quarter against the Chiefs on Sunday.
“It’s just going to be about all that entails to go through the process to where he can have some time to start feeling like he can be at full speed again, as explosive as he is. That’ll be a process he’ll work through and hopefully we can get that window opened up and see where he’s at at that time.”
O’Connell didn’t have a specific answer when asked about the severity of Jefferson’s hamstring injury, a la was it a Grade 1, 2 or 3 strain.
“It was significant enough that we felt the best thing for him was to put him on short-term IR,” O’Connell said.
Jefferson will miss at least four games, though he is eligible to return from IR when the Vikings take on the Saints in Week 10.
With Jefferson out, the Vikings signed receivers N’Keal Harry and Trishton Jackson off the practice squad. They join K.J. Osborn, Jordan Addison and Brandon Powell as the active receivers on the roster, along with tight ends T.J. Hockenson, Josh Oliver and Johnny Mundt.
