Minnesota star wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been placed on injured reserve, meaning he will miss at least the next four games due to the hamstring injury suffered in Sunday’s 27-20 home loss to Kansas City.
Jefferson is currently third in the NFL in receiving yards (571), tied for sixth in receptions (36), tied for fifth in touchdowns catches (three) and fourth in catches resulting in first-down yardage (28). The fourth-year veteran out of LSU has never missed a game, starting 53 contests in a row since Week 3 of his rookie campaign.
Jefferson was limited to six catches for 28 yards against the Chiefs. Going into Week 5, he was the NFL’s leader in receiving yards and was tied for second in receptions.
This is the capper to a disastrous start to the season for the Vikings, who are now 1-4 straight up and 1-3-1 against the spread. They’ve lost four one-possession games.
Jefferson was the 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year when he led the league in receptions (128) and receiving yards (1,809) and had eight TD catches. He also had 24 rushing yards, one TD and a 6.0 yards-per-carry average.
The 24-year-old Jefferson has been selected to the Pro Bowl in all three of his years as a pro. The Vikings made him the No. 22 overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
As a rookie, Jefferson had 88 catches for 1,400 yards and seven TDs. In 2021, he had 108 receptions for 1,616 yards and 10 TDs.
With Jefferson out, you have to wonder if Minnesota will punt on the rest of the season. Three veteran players – QB Kirk Cousins, WR K.J. Osborn and LB Danielle Hunter – are in the last year of their contracts that will expire at the end of the year.
Could these players be on the trading block before the Oct. 31 trade deadline? We shall see.
Look for rookie WR Jordan Addison to get more involved in the offense. The same goes for Osborn, veteran WR Brandon Powell and TE TJ Hockenson.
As of Tuesday morning, most books had the Vikings installed as 2.5-point road favorites at Chicago. The total was 46 points.