Getty Wide receiver Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings have excelled while waiting patiently for All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson to return to the lineup. Unfortunately, the team is going to have to wait one more game.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on Sunday, November 26, that Jefferson will sit out his seventh straight contest with a hamstring strain when the Vikings host the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.
#Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (questionable, hamstring) is not expected to play Monday night vs. Bears, per source.
Vikings will give him the bye week – and he’ll be a big part of the team’s playoff push over the final five games.
“#Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (questionable, hamstring) is not expected to play Monday night vs. Bears, per source,” Fowler wrote on X. “Vikings will give him the bye week — and he’ll be a big part of the team’s playoff push over the final five games.”
Justin Jefferson Planned to Play Against Bears if Healthy Enough
GettyWide receiver Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings.
For Jefferson’s part, he said earlier this week that he would play against Chicago if he felt well enough to do so.
“If I’m feeling good, I will play,” Jefferson said during a press conference on Friday. “If I miss this one, it’s going to be the seventh game. So, it’s definitely frustrating. It’s tough to be patient and trying to make sure an injury heals properly. It’s definitely not something that I wanna do, but it just comes with the game. It comes with trying to be healthy, trying to be 100 percent.”
Minnesota is 5-1 since losing Jefferson in the second half of a Week-5 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs in Minneapolis. The team’s only loss since then came on the road in Week 11 by 1 point to the Denver Broncos, who have now won five consecutive games of their own.
Jefferson will return following the Vikings’ bye week to face the Las Vegas Raiders. Barring further injury, he will also be available for the team’s final game against the Green Bay Packers (Week 17) and both matchups with the NFC North Division-leading Detroit Lions (Weeks 16, 18).
Minnesota is currently 6-5 and trailing the Lions by two games for the division lead. The Packers are 5-6 after two straight wins and can pull to within a half-game of the Vikings should Minnesota fall to the Bears on Monday night.
Justin Jefferson Has Dealt with Heavy Criticism from NFL Fans During Injury
GettyWide receiver Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings.
Jefferson’s absence from the field has been hard enough for the wide receiver on its own, though off-field pressures have gotten to him over the past couple of months as well.
Jefferson deleted his social media accounts over the weekend, citing ongoing harassment from NFL fans based on his prolonged injury absence. Doctors initially diagnosed his hamstring strain as an injury that would take 4-6 weeks to heal.
He talked to media members Friday about what it’s been like dealing with the pressure and accusations from fans.
Y’all have no idea. It’s honestly crazy, the amount of people that really criticize you and talk very, very bad about you, calling you different names.
I’ve been getting it for five, six weeks now. I’m just tired of it. It’s frustrating. It’s draining to want to be out there on the field, wanting to play and all these other sources saying different things that are not true on how you’re feeling.
Even without Jefferson, the Vikings are 3-point favorites to defeat the Bears on Monday night.
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Vikings WR Justin Jefferson Makes Final Call on Playing vs. Bears