Vikings Finally Announce the Update Fans Wanted
Justin Jefferson is back and will practice this week.
The Vikings finally delivered the update fans have been waiting for, with big news out of training camp that impacts the offense moving forward in 2025.
The phenom Minnesota Vikings wide receiver missed nearly all of training camp this summer, nursing a slight hamstring ailment back to health. That process is over, as head coach Kevin O’Connell announced Monday that Jefferson will practice.
Jefferson has formally returned.
Vikings’ WR Anxiety Steadies with Justin Jefferson Back in the Mix
Some initially feared that the injury would bleed into the regular season.
Justin Jefferson Is Back
O’Connell spoke to reporters with the team’s final preseason game four days away. He took the opportunity to reveal Jefferson’s status.
“You’ll see him at practice,” said O’Connell. “He will begin to take part in practice. It’ll be kind of a ramp-up.”
“You’ll see him take part in bits and pieces of it here, but he will officially be back to work and be ramping up from here. So glad you asked.”
O’Connell left nothing to interpretation, and fans should fully expect Jefferson to be in the mix at TCO Performance Center.
Perfect Timing for Jefferson’s Return
The Vikings’ first regular season game is three weeks away, taking on the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Monday Night Football. Jefferson likely would not have partaken in any of the three preseason games anyway, but having him back at practice is a supremely encouraging development.
Second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy — who is effectively a rookie per regular season playing time and experience — can now build rapport with Jefferson in the next three weeks. Before Jefferson’s return, McCarthy and Jordan Addison had built quite a connection. McCarthy can experience the best of both worlds, the way it’s intended.
Barring any setbacks, Jefferson practicing this far away from Week 1 is a full green light to expect him in the starting lineup on September 8th.
A WR Room In Flux
Jefferson also has perfect timing.
The aforementioned Addison will not take part in the first three games of the regular season, suspended for three games because of a DUI-adjacent offence in California. Jefferson and Addison’s WR teammate, Rondale Moore, was lost for all of 2025, a week and a half ago, due to a knee injury. And Minnesota will ramp WR3 Jalen Nailor up for the rest of the preseason after the speedster jammed his hand at last week’s joint practices with the New England Patriots.
In fact, before the Jefferson announcement, many fans pondered a wide receiver alternative, either from free agency or via trade. The depth had become that nerve-racking.
Go Time in 21 Days
Minnesota will meet a hungry and upstart Bears team in Week 1, led by new head coach Ben Johnson and second-year signal-caller Caleb Williams. When the Jefferson injury emerged last month, some feared a Jefferson-less Vikings offense that might’ve featured wide receivers Jalen Nailor, Tai Felton, Lucky Jackson, and another undrafted free agent on deck to make the 53-man roster.
Jefferson at WR1, at the top of the ticket, changes everything. Tight end T.J. Hockenson will also likely receive a handsome workload with Addison on the shelf.
Help Alongside Jefferson?
Some believe the Vikings should still add one more receiver before the start of the regular season, with Addison suspended and Moore out for the year.
SI.com‘s Joe Nelson recommended Tyler Boyd this week: “Boyd turns 31 in November. He’s not coming off an injury, but he did post his lowest catch and yardage totals since 2016 last season. That isn’t a good look, but Boyd has been extremely consistent from 2016 to 2023 with the Bengals and last year was his first with the Titans, who had rookie Will Levis throwing him passes.”
“Boyd would be a smooth fit considering he has experience in Zach Taylor’s Cincinnati offense, which is a spinoff of the Sean McVay offense, which Kevin O’Connell employs in Minnesota.”
Nelson also mentioned Gabe Davis: “Davis is only 26 and his track record is impressive outside of his 2024 season with the Jaguars when he posted career lows with 20 catches for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Why the struggles in his first season with Jacksonville? He’s on record saying he played hurt with a meniscus injury before it knocked him out for good after 10 games.”
“If he’s healthy, he could get back to the form that saw him score 27 touchdowns in four seasons with Buffalo. Would he take a one-year deal to reignite his career with the Vikings? Like Cooper, he would play third fiddle behind Jefferson and Addison, which would likely limit his ability to command as much money as possible as a free agent next spring.”
While another wideout could help as an insurance policy, Jefferson’s preseason return is a mammoth development, enabling fans to breathe a sigh of relief.
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