Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell offered an update on wide receiver Justin Jefferson. The coach spoke on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday afternoon and gave a prognosis on his wide receiver.
Jefferson’s status has been monitored throughout the course of the week. On Sunday, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler indicated that Jefferson could be available for this Sunday’s game. Reports have circulated throughout the week about his health, and now it looks as though the Vikings are taking it on a day-to-day basis.
While O’Connell didn’t offer anything definitive regarding the status of his receiver, he did at least give a bit of a nugget of information.
“He’s doing great,” O’Connell said Tuesday. “He kind of got a lot of the initial soreness and things out last week, and see what he’s able to kind of handle from a practice standpoint leading into Sunday, but don’t know exactly where he’s gonna be at. We have the bye next week.”
Justin Jefferson Has Had Solid Start To Season
In the season-opening win over the Green Bay Packers. He followed that up in week two against the Chicago Bears with three receptions for 55 yards. This included a 39-yard catch that was his longest of the season. The contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started off strong, as he caught two passes for 32 yards. However, he had to leave the game with the injury.
Metrically, he is also performing at a high level this season. He averages 2.98 yards of separation per target. The playmaker also has a 12.0-yard average depth of target according to statistics from Pro Football Focus. This has shown up in his ability to get first downs. He’s had it first downs this season. That is a conversion rate of 61.5%.
Of the 17 times he’s been targeted, he has caught a pass 13 times. This has led to a 76.5% catch rate for the season.
Vikings Need Justin Jefferson Back From Injury
Other people have had to step up with Jefferson out. However, that has led to targets being condensed to one specific receiver. On Sunday, it was tight end T.J. Hockenson. The latter caught 13 receptions for 119 yards. Jordan Addison had four catches for 52 yards, and only had one catch for 14 yards. Overall, it was not the best day for the wide receiver unit as a whole.
Getting Justin Jefferson back will undoubtedly help the offense. The only question now is when he will be able to come back. The playmaker adds a different element to the Vikings offense, and allows for the unit to have one extra level of explosiveness. In a pass-happy league like the NFL, that counts for a lot. The Vikings are going to need Jefferson, as the back half of the schedule gets tougher. Sunday’s game in particular has an interesting subplot, as it will be a homecoming of sorts for the LSU star.
Vikings Reveal New Justin Jefferson Update Ahead of Week 5