We are now entering the 11th week of the 2022 NFL season, and daily practice reports are becoming longer and longer as injury updates pour in. Justin Jefferson has been the pinnacle of health this season, but that is in jeopardy as he popped up on Wednesday’s practice report with a toe injury.
What is the latest on Jefferson’s status, and should fantasy football managers be concerned that he might miss this Sunday’s game against the Cowboys?
Justin Jefferson Injury Update
My heart skipped a beat when I saw Jefferson had been added to Wednesday’s injury report. Jefferson has been healthy the entire season. So, anything that jeopardizes his status for a game is quite terrifying.
The Vikings listed Jefferson as limited at Wednesday’s practice with a toe injury. Normally, I don’t really care about Wednesday practice reports. This late in the season, we see players very frequently sit out Wednesday practices as they recover from the previous week’s game.
However, this one is different because of the phrasing used by beat reporters. I was unable to locate an earlier injury report that may have been different, but the term “added to the injury report” suggests Jefferson was not initially on it. That means one of two things.
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Either the Vikings forgot to list Jefferson on the injury report (unlikely). Or, Jefferson sustained the injury at Wednesday’s practice (likely, and concerning). If this is indeed the case, we really have no way of reading into what it means just yet.
The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling reported that the Vikings didn’t have a full practice today, according to head coach Kevin O’Connell. Given the walkthrough nature of the practice, it raises more than a couple of eyebrows as to how Jefferson may have gotten hurt. Of course, this still assumes he sustained the injury at practice, which is still just speculation at this point.
Toe injuries can be very tricky. We’ve seen Tee Higgins listed on injury reports with a toe issue that never actually placed him at risk of missing a game. We also saw a toe issue end Michael Thomas’ season. Not to be alarmist, but Jefferson could be anywhere from fine to possibly done for the season.
With that said, if the latter was truly a concern, we would probably know about it by now. In all likelihood, if Jefferson is forced to miss time, it won’t be more than a couple of weeks.
Will Justin Jefferson Play This Sunday?
As of Wednesday night, we know very little about Jefferson’s injury. The late addition prevented beat reporters from being able to ask O’Connell about it. Therefore, we have no choice but to wait until Thursday, when O’Connell will undoubtedly field questions about Jefferson’s health.
While the lack of certainty is frustrating, the most likely scenario here is that Jefferson is fine. At this point in the season, nearly every player in the NFL is dealing with some sort of ailment. The vast majority of them are minor.
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As long as Jefferson practices on Thursday in some capacity, he will be on track to play. However, if we see a DNP, that would cause me to change my tune real quickly. A DNP would immediately shift Jefferson from “probably fine” to “likely to miss this week.” Right now, there’s nothing to do but wait until the Vikings take the field on Thursday.
If Jefferson can’t go this Sunday, Adam Thielen would elevate to the WR1 role, and K.J. Osborn would be on the wide receiver streaming radar. He’s had success in the past when pushed up into the WR2 role, particularly last season when Thielen missed time. He averages 5.74 PPR fantasy points per game as the WR3 but 11.38 ppg when Thielen is inactive.
