Justin Jefferson’s job No. 1 is to be on the field, and both he and the Vikings take that very seriously.
Jefferson, 25, missed seven games last season with a torn right hamstring and missed Wednesday’s practice with a hamstring in mind, which was intentionally done to coincide with Minnesota’s scheduled day off on Thursday.
“I was scared of it happening again, so I was being overly cautious,” Jefferson told reporters. “Just trying to take care of my body the right way, finding new things that I can implement in my daily life that will help me more throughout the season, working on my hamstrings a little bit, trying to keep me from getting injured.”
Coach Kevin O’Connell declined to say Jefferson is on the maintenance plan but noted the Vikings don’t want to put too much pressure on him heading into this season.
“We want to make sure that his progression through training camp is appropriate, coming off his first experience with the type of injury that he had,” O’Connell told reporters. “It’s more a matter of him interacting with the team.” [vice president of player health and performance Tyler Williams] And I’m also working on a plan for him to be in top form, football-fit and ready for August, and tactically ready as well.”
The Vikings’ tracking data reportedly doesn’t show Jefferson showing any signs of injury, and this is largely out of an abundance of caution.
“You get to a point where you think that’s never going to happen again,” Jefferson said, “because I feel like I’m trying to push myself to a point where I’m strong enough so that it never happens again. It’s about having confidence, and then I can go out on the court and play freely.”
Jefferson had 68 catches for 1,074 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games last season.
