Justin Jefferson is one of the best wide receivers in the NFL, so Minnesota Vikings fans and fantasy managers were understandably concerned when he suffered a hamstring injury during training camp. What’s the latest on Jefferson’s hamstring, and is he in jeopardy of missing Week 1?
What Is Justin Jefferson’s Injury?
Jefferson dealt with a mild hamstring strain during training camp, but he has since returned to practice and is expected to suit up in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears.
While Jefferson is expected to play this week, there is some concern that his hamstring injury will require treatment for the remainder of the season.
“I think this is going to be a long-term maintenance thing,” Vikings insider Ben Goessling said on KFAN-FM 100.3. “He’s had enough hamstring stuff at this point that I would not be surprised — he practices hard and he does not like to miss practices — I wonder if they will mitigate any of that. If there are weeks coming up where you see that he was limited in a practice and he shows up [on the injury report] with a hamstring, I don’t know that that will mean that there’s anything new.
“I don’t know that that’s going to happen. Just kind of putting pieces together, it wouldn’t shock me if there are weeks where they say, ‘Hey, we gotta pull this back just a little’ for maintenance perspective because you don’t want those things to become regular issues.
“We’re going to see him continue to get stretched out, I imagine,” Goessling continued. “There will be a lot of practices where during the brief open period for the media it’ll be, ‘OK, where is he?’ — and he’s inside getting stretched out or he may be outside in the side tent doing those things. I would expect this is something they continue to keep a pretty close eye on because hamstrings seem like they are a consistent enough issue for him at this point that I think they’re going to treat it with quite a bit of attention.”
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The hope is that Jefferson won’t be limited due to his hamstring issue, as the Vikings are relying on him to lead the offense and many fantasy managers are selecting him with their first-round pick this year.
With Jordan Addison suspended for the first three games and Adam Thielen just recently joining the team via trade, Jefferson and tight end T.J. Hockenson should be targeted a ton early in the season.
Jefferson’s Week 1 Fantasy Football Outlook
I know Aaron Rodgers considers himself a father figure to the Chicago organization. Still, with him no longer in the NFC North, you could certainly argue that his claim of ownership stands to be transferred to Jefferson sooner rather than later.
Minnesota’s WR1 has cleared five targets in six games thus far in his career against the Bears, and the results have been … #good.
- 44 catches
- 620 yards
- 3 touchdowns
- 21.2 FPPG (14.6% over expectations)
JUSTIN JEFFERSON 52-YARD TD FOR THE LEAD
📺: #LACvsMIN on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/UQdQ05hqXN pic.twitter.com/I6yR2VECKf— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2023
We could argue about the hierarchy of the receiver position, but does it matter? You’re playing Jefferson every week in which he is active in any season-long format, and there’s no DFS decision to be made with this being the final game of the week on Monday night.
There’s a broader range of outcomes than we are accustomed to with Jefferson by way of a new quarterback, but that doesn’t mean that there is a discussion to be had regarding his standing as a WR1 in all fantasy formats.
