Justin Jefferson's return to the Vikings offense will have to wait at least one more week. Currently tabbed as questionable for Sunday's matchup against the Broncos, Jefferson will not be activated in time to take the field, according to ESPN.
The 24-year-old is considering himself as day-to-day while not putting a specific timetable on his return from his hamstring injury he suffered in Week 5. The All-Pro wideout said last week that he wants to be 100% before he returns to the field. The team designated Jefferson to return from injured reserve on November 8. That opened up his window and meant he could resume working out with his teammates. Upon opening up that window, Minnesota will now has until November 29 to activate Jefferson onto the 53-man roster or else he will revert to injured reserve for the remainder of the 2023 season.
Jefferson has been on injured reserve for the last month after he left the team's Week 5 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs due to a hamstring injury.
Without Jefferson, the Vikings have surprisingly flourished and have won five straight games to put themselves inside the playoff picture entering Week 10 at 6-4 and sitting as the No. 7 seed in the NFC.
Whenever Jefferson can get back onto the field, he'll be able to help lift a Vikings offense that is still reeling from the loss of Kirk Cousins, who suffered a season-ending Achilles tear against the Packers in Week 8. Now, Jefferson will eventually have Joshua Dobbs throwing him the football upon his return. Dobbs, who was acquired two weeks ago in a trade with the Cardinals, has played well in Minnesota while winning his first two starts with his new team.
Before going down, Jefferson was picking up right where he left off from his first-team All-Pro season in 2022 where he led the league in receptions and receiving yards. In three of his five games played, he had totaled at least 149 receiving yards. If he's at that apex whenever he steps back onto the field, that'll be a monumental boost for the Minnesota offense down the stretch.
