It has now been four weeks since Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson was on the field for fantasy football managers. As we head into the stretch run of the fantasy football regular season, managers will be hoping to see the star WR back on the field soon.
Let’s take a look at the latest Jefferson injury update, when he can return, and his fantasy value heading into Week 10.
Latest Injury Update on Justin Jefferson
After a few weeks of silence, we got a seemingly positive injury update on Jefferson’s hamstring injury from Vikings’ head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“Yeah, we’re working through that. Justin has done a phenomenal job in his rehab. He’s still been a part of meetings. He’s mentally in it. We’ll see, I’ll give you guys an update Wednesday as far as where he’s at,” O’Connell told reporters. “You know, we’re still working through that, and it’s possible that we will open up his window on Wednesday.”
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However, there was a hint of doubt thrown in by O’Connell as he continued his answer.
“But we’re going to do what’s best for Justin and make sure that we’re doing everything responsibly to make sure that when Justin does return, he can be the Justin Jefferson we all know and expect to see out there,” he said. “And I just credit him for how he’s worked through it and through this whole process.”
That second half of the statement raises red flags that suggest we may not see Jefferson on the field in Week 10. At the time of the injury, there was some concern that this could be a 4-6 week absence. Right now, the hope is that it could just be a four-week absence, but that is not fully confirmed as of yet.
On Wednesday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Jefferson is being designated to return from the IR. However, Rapoport went on to report that there is no rush for Jefferson. Shortly afterward, the Vikings confirmed that Jefferson had been designated to return.
When O’Connell spoke to the media he said the Vikings’ are following a “pre-set timeline” with Jefferson’s return to the field.
Will Jefferson Play This Week?
The simple answer to this is that we do not know for certain right now, but it seems like Jefferson will not play in Week 10. We should get an idea of the answer on Wednesday when the Vikings return to the practice field. Jefferson has been designated to return from the IR, which is a positive step in terms of potentially seeing him in Week 10.
However, fantasy managers should note that just because Jefferson can return to practice, it does not guarantee he will play this week. The Vikings have a 21-day window from designating him to return to adding him to the 53-man roster. That means the Vikings could designate Jefferson to return this week and not activate him until Week 13.
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O’Connell told the media that it would be “a little bit aggressive” to expect Jefferson to play this week. Therefore, it seems as though the Vikings are not willing to risk rushing Jefferson back on the field in Week 10. The Vikings have a Week 12 bye, so it will be interesting to see if the Vikings are willing to bring him back ahead of that in either of the next two weeks.
What Does This Mean for Jefferson’s Fantasy Ranking?
If Jefferson is active, it will be close to impossible to sit him in Week 10. Sports Injury Analyst Deepak Chona believes Jefferson should be able to return this week at close to 100% based on data of similar injuries. However, with hamstring injuries, there is always a minor risk of re-aggravating the injury and a potential ramp-up period being required
Quite simply, if Jefferson is active — even with Joshua Dobbs at QB — he is a player who has earned the right to go straight back into starting lineups.
K.J. Osborn had been starting in Jefferson’s place but left last week with a concussion. Osborn was the only realistic option the Vikings might look to rotate in two-man sets with Jefferson. Therefore, if the stud WR is active, he should play a majority of snaps.
As of Wednesday, Jefferson is not ranked in PFN’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings as we wait for news on whether he will be activated. Once we have more clarity that he will return, we will update this section to reflect our analysts’ consensus rankings.
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