When the Minnesota Vikings positioned celebrity broad receiver Justin Jefferson on injured reserve with a hamstring damage, they knew it was going to sideline him for at least 4 weeks.
There is an opportunity the damage will maintain him off the sector even longer than that.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Saturday that league docs consider Jefferson might miss as many as six weeks because of the damage. He will bear additional imaging assessments in 4 weeks to find out a extra particular timeframe for when he can return.
Jefferson is likely one of the NFL’s greatest gamers and probably the most impactful participant on the Vikings roster. His absence, irrespective of how lengthy, goes to be a major loss for a workforce that’s already making an attempt to dig itself out from a disappointing 1-4 begin.
Complicating issues right here is the very fact Jefferson was looking for a long-term contract extension earlier than the season, with the 2 sides unable to come back to an settlement on a brand new deal. There is the likelihood that if the Vikings proceed to lose video games and fall out of the NFC playoff race, Jefferson won’t rush himself again into the lineup. There could be vital threat for him personally to come back again too quickly and threat additional damage on a workforce that may not be going anyplace.
Jefferson was the 2022 NFL Offensive Player Of The Year and in 5 video games this season had already caught 36 passes for 571 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers had put him on a tempo to almost match his reception complete from final season (128) whereas exceeding his yardage complete (1,809). He was on tempo for 122 catches and 1,941 receiving yards.
In Jefferson’s absence, the Vikings might want to rely closely on rookie broad receiver Jordan Addison to select up the slack within the passing recreation.
Jefferson’s damage, in addition to the Vikings’ poor begin, has elevated hypothesis that the workforce might turn out to be sellers previous to the Oct. 31 commerce deadline.
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