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During Thursday's practice, the Minnesota Vikings ended up pulling wide receiver Justin Jefferson off the field due to tightness in his legs. On Friday afternoon, head coach Kevin O'Connell informed the media that Jefferson has a mild hamstring strain and will miss some practice time.
"I wanted to give you guys a little update with Justin [Jefferson] getting a chance to talk to you guys yesterday,: said O'Connell on Friday before practice. "He expressed some discomfort to our staff between the hamstring tightness in his left leg, didn't want to leave anything to chance, so we did have further evaluation done, and he does have a very mild left hamstring strain. We're going to be really cautious with it. It is not the same leg from a couple years ago, I know that question is probably coming. I credit Justin for his ability to recognize how he was feeling, and the fact that we were able to avoid anything major. So, we're going to hold him out here for a bit, and then reevaluate him next week when we come back later on in the week. The best thing is we avoided anything serious. I see no concerns in regards to the opener and have no worry at all that we'll be able to get Justin ready to go for the regular season. As you guys know, throughout camp you'll see time to time that we have some of our players on scheduled maintenance days throughout. I'll try to keep you posted to avoid any confusion as I always try to do. But just wanted you to make you guys available of that.
Justin Jefferson's injury provides an unconventional opportunity
Not having Jefferson at practice is going to be a frustrating thing for a multitude of reasons. The fans aren't going to be able to see the best player in the National Football League do his thing, which stinks considering the 12 public practices that the Vikings currently have scheduled.
The other major downside is that Jefferson won't have the opportunity to continue building chemistry with J.J. McCarthy as he continues to grow into the starting role with the Vikings. Now, they have been throwing at times during the offseason, so it's not like they have been working from scratch.
As there is with every injury and instance of a player missing time during training camp, there is a positive coming from it. The absence of Jefferson will allow other players at the position to have a chance to play more snaps, along with snaps on an elevated level than they wouldn't have normally gotten.
Jordan Addison is going to get a chance to be the number one wide receiver for the next few practices at minimum, which is great for his development. In turn, Jalen Nailor will get run at WR2, which he will likely be if Addison does end up suspended.
Along with that, the depth receivers who are fighting for those last roster spots will have more opportunities to catch passes. Each rep that they get will end up factoring into the decision by the front office on who to keep. Just remember someone like Adam Thielen, who used those reps to become a Pro Bowler.
You never want something like this to happen, but the Vikings can take advantage of this circumstance by developing their players across the board.
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