It has been more than two months since NFL fans saw Justin Jefferson take the field for the Minnesota Vikings, but he is finally due to return in week 14 — just in time for 6-6 Minnesota’s playoff push.a
Entering the 2023 season, many discussed Jefferson as a candidate to break league receiving records after winning the top individual honor for an offensive player last year. However, an unfortunate right hamstring strain cost Jefferson seven games — and the star wideout has had to adjust his goals as a result.
Jefferson has not played in two months due to a hamstring injury he picked up in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in week 5. The NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year will not be able to defend his title due to the injury — but he has a new milestone he intends to reach before the regular season ends.
Jefferson’s not too far away from the mark. He accrued 571 receiving yards in five games before the injury, meaning he has 429 yards to go to hit 1,000. He’ll have five games to do it, starting Sunday with the Las Vegas Raiders — who have allowed just one 300-yard game to an opposing quarterback this season.
In a year where Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill is poised to become the first player ever to record 2,000 receiving yards in a single campaign, it has been frustrating for Jefferson to sit and watch someone else close in on a record that could easily have been his.
“To have missed seven games throughout the season, especially on the pace that I was going before the injury,” Jefferson said. “It’s a little tough to see Tyreek going crazy every single week, to see different people throughout the whole league doing tremendous things.