Report: NaJee Thompson Has Approximate Return Date
During a three-week stretch of July, the Minnesota Vikings could not avoid bad news — from Khyree Jackson’s passing, Jordan Addison’s arrest, Mekhi Blackmon’s season-ending ACL tear, to men like T.J. Hockenson and NaJee Thompson on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.
Report: NaJee Thompson Has Approximate Return Date
Well, thanks to Star Tribune‘s Andrew Krammer, Thompson’s return date has more clarity — a tentative target of August 24, in time for the Vikings final preseason game. Krammer tweeted Thursday, just two days before Minnesota’s first preseason game: “Another injury note: CB NaJee Thompson, on PUP and sidelined all summer with a nagging left knee injury, obviously won’t play Saturday but is hoping to be ready by the Aug. 24 preseason finale in Philadelphia.”
Thompson’s return will be music to Vikings fans’ ears and Minnesota’s special teams unit.
The special teams ace didn’t play much defense as a rookie — he was on the field for one single defensive snap during the regular season — but experienced extensive action on special teams, enough to gain respect from the masses as a fan favorite.
Losing Thompson for an extended period would’ve spelled doldrums for the Vikings’ special teams forecast — a group that scraped the bottom section of the NFL last year per efficiency. Overall, in 2023, Minnesota’s special teams ranked 30th per DVOA.
It is unclear which current player would’ve stepped up if Thompson’s absence had bled into the regular season. Perhaps recently signed linebacker Jabril Cox, though that theory is speculative.
Thompson famously tweeted after the 2023 NFL Draft and joining the Vikings as undrafted free agent: “Opportunity will present itself and I will make that 53 man roster at end of the day. I know I’m the best special teams player in the country short simple and sweet … Film can’t lie! Blessed for this opportunity that’s coming to prove all other 31 teams that passed up wrong!!”
The declaration was as accurate as it was bold, and Thompson made the 53-man roster four months later.
Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said about Thompson last summer, “It’s funny, I’ve been watching this player for quite some time now, and he lives and breathes special teams. That’s who he is at the core, and for him to finally be able to carry it over from what I saw on tape from the collegiate level to putting it on display on Thursday night only solidifies who he is as a person – the bright lights aren’t too big for him.”
Thompson was also rumored at minicamp to switch positions from cornerback to safety in 2024.
The fun-loving Viking served as the team’s unofficial “special teams coordinator” in 2023, recommending touchdown celebrations for his teammates and assisting them with innovative ideas.
The Vikings’ first preseason game gets underway this Saturday and features the Las Vegas Raiders at U.S. Bank Stadium. Minnesota hasn’t won a preseason game in half a decade.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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