Justin Jefferson: 'I don't want to go out there 80-90 percent'
Justin Jefferson, barring a setback with his hamstring injury, will return to the Minnesota Vikings within three weeks. It's evident now that he's highly unlikely to play this Sunday when the Vikings host the Saints, but if his words in his first press conference since suffering the injury Oct. 8 suggest he's getting very close to playing again.
"I'd say day-to-day. You can't really put a date on it this very moment," Jefferson said Thursday.
"It's getting better and better every single day. Just trying to build that strength up and just making sure that [the injury] doesn't come back later in the season. Just working with everybody and making sure that I'm gettin the proper treatment and the proper strength that I need to put back into my hamstring."
Jefferson, who despite missing the past four games is 18th in the NFL with 571 receiving yards and tied for the fifth most receptions of 20+ yards (13), injured his hamstring in the fourth quarter of Minnesota's Week 5 loss to the Chiefs.
"It's just all about how I'm feeling and how strong the hamstring is. Hamstring is a difficult injury just because it lingers and it comes back from time to time if you don't put the right treatment into it," Jefferson said. "I don't want to go out there 80-90 percent and have the chance of hurting it again. It's day-to-day just like I said, and when that time comes I'll definitely be ready to step out on that field."
If Jefferson doesn't play Sunday, his next opportunity will come on the national stage when the Vikings and Broncos play Nov. 19 on Sunday Night Football.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.