Vikings open Justin Jefferson's 21-day window to return
Barring a setback, it's a guarantee that Justin Jefferson will be playing again for the Minnesota Vikings within three weeks as the team on Wednesday opened his 21-day practice window – the time period they have to activate him from injured reserve.
The news first came from NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, who notes that it doesn't mean Jefferson will play this Sunday against the Saints but it does mean "he's on his way back from the hamstring injury that landed him on Injured Reserve." The Vikings have since confirmed that Jefferson's window is open.
The practice window for #Vikings star WR Justin Jefferson is being opened this week, sources say, as he now has 21 days to be activated. This does not mean he’ll play this week. But he’s on his way back from the hamstring injury that landed him on Injured Reserve. pic.twitter.com/4aeQ4xH2QT
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 8, 2023
Jefferson suffered the hamstring injury in Week 5 against the Chiefs. Minnesota lost that game to fall to 1-4 but has responded with four straight victories without Jefferson, including the latest win in Atlanta coming without Kirk Cousins (Achilles), who was replaced by Josh Dobbs in sensational fashion as Dobbs combined for three touchdowns while throwing for 158 yards and rushing for 66 yards.
Minnesota now has a chance to put pressure on the Lions in the NFC North over the final eight games of the regular season. Little did anyone know that it would be the Josh Dobbs-to-Justin Jefferson show that would be leading the charge.
Jefferson's 571 receiving yards in just five games is still good enough for 18th most in the NFL. And his 13 receptions of 20+ yards is still good enough for fifth most in the entire league.
If Jefferson doesn't play this Sunday against the Saints – and reports from Tom Pelissero and Adam Schefter on Tuesday suggested that he's unlikely to play this week – his next opportunity to return will come on Sunday Night Football when the Vikings visit the Broncos in Denver on Nov. 19.
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.