Minnesota Vikings activate Justin Jefferson from Injured Reserve after Week 5 injury

The Minnesota Vikings announced that they are activating wide receiver Justin Jefferson from the Injured Reserve on Tuesday. The former LSU star hasn’t played since Week 5 when he suffered a hamstring injury, which required multiple weeks of rehab. Minnesota activated Jefferson at the tail end of his 21-day practice window, though his fantasy football owners would have loved it to be sooner.

Jefferson missed the team’s game this week against the Chicago Bears. It went down as loss No. 6 on Monday night. Now, with a bye week ahead of them, the 6-6 Vikings can prepare to get their star wide receiver back on the field and make a push for the postseason.

Minnesota is counting on Jefferson to reach 100% in his hamstring injury recovery after the bye, which means he should play for the first time in two months during the game on Dec. 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Jefferson takes cautious approach with hamstring injury

So far this season, he has 36 catches, 571 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers are a big letdown for his fantasy football owners, but Jefferson wasn’t going to rush his recovery to appease the masses.

“My health is wayyy more important than you winning your fantasy games,” Jefferson tweeted last week with a laughing emoji as he missed the Broncos game. “It doesn’t matter how many times y’all flood my dms talking about me selling your team. I DONT CARE.”

In 2022, Jefferson, the former LSU star had a career-high 1,809 receiving yards with eight touchdowns on 128 catches. Those numbers made him one of the most sought-after targets in fantasy drafts this fall.

As Jefferson battled to try to return, head coach Kevin O’Connell made it clear the team wasn’t rushing him to return before the bye.

“This is a player that means a ton to our organization, both for this home stretch to try to solidify our positioning in the playoffs and still try to compete in the division as much as we possibly can,” O’Connell said, “but Justin means a lot more than just these five or six games, as critical as they are. His long-term career here is the priority.”

Minnesota won five games in a row after losing Jefferson before falling to the Denver Broncos 21-20 in Week 11, then again in Week 12 to Chicago. Undoubtedly, fans of the team want the wideout back as soon as possible to stop a potential skid. That being said, the Vikings still have the opportunity to catch the Lions after the bye, and if they’re going to do it, Jefferson needs to be fully healthy.