Maybe superstar receiver Justin Jefferson would’ve handled everything differently if he hadn’t suffered a severe hamstring injury a couple of years ago. Maybe he would’ve ignored what he was feeling in the early stages in training camp. Maybe he would’ve tried to play through the pain.
There’s a chance he would’ve been completely fine. There’s also a chance he would’ve made it much worse.
None of those hypotheticals matter because Jefferson chose to report the minor soreness in his muscle. He remembers how frustrating it was to sit out a couple of years ago. He didn’t want to go down that road again.
“I definitely didn’t want it to reoccur,” Jefferson said. “Just kind of communicating and coming to an understanding that maybe we should step back a little bit.”
The result was Jefferson missing virtually all of training camp at TCO Performance Center to make sure he was ready to roll when when it really mattered. The plan worked out as Jefferson is back too 100 percent with Vikings preparing to play the Chicago Bears on Monday night at Soldier Field.
“I feel great,” Jefferson said. “It’s definitely a credit to the guys in the training room for really prepping me up to this point.”
Though he couldn’t practice with his teammates while he was trying to get back to full strength, Jefferson still made the most of training camp, spending a few weeks more or less serving as the NFL’s most expensive assistant coach.
Whether he was chopping it up with head coach Kevin O’Connell, getting on the same page as young quarterback J.J. McCarthy, or offering some tips to fellow receiver Jordan Addison, Jefferson was very much present even when he was absent.
“You felt like he was in the huddle on some plays,” O’Connell said. “Just because of his presence.”
That positivity from Jefferson noticeably raised the bar for everybody else.
“We saw a lot of leadership from him at maybe the hardest time to really show it,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. “He brought a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm throughout the whole process.”
All the while Jefferson was working hard on his own behind the scenes. His ultimate goal was to be able hit the ground running — literally and figuratively — when he was cleared to be back around his teammates.
“It wasn’t just him in recovery mode and getting back to a certain baseline,” O’Connell said. “He elevated by getting stronger and really focusing in on some of the stuff that would allow him to have a fast transition.”
Just because he’s been back at practice for a couple of weeks doesn’t mean Jefferson has completely renounced his role as the NFL’s most expensive assistant coach. He’s been been helping veteran receiver Adam Thielen get reacclimated after the Vikings brought him home via trade with the Carolina Panthers.
“We were kind of laughing about it,” Thielen said. “He’s been helping me out with the plays. It’s funny because it was obviously the opposite early in his career. That was really cool for him to kind of be teaching me this offense.”
As soon as he got back to practice, Jefferson started carving out extra time to work with McCarthy, doing everything in his power to build that rapport before the Vikings play the Bears in primetime.
“I definitely feel back in the rhythm,” Jefferson said. “Just working with him for a couple of weeks consistently getting the timing down.”
Not that it’s too hard for McCarthy to get on the same page as Jefferson.
“I know the more times I can throw that guy the ball the better,” McCarthy said. “He’s the greatest receiver in the world so him being out there and me being able to put up a ball in his vicinity makes it easy to have some good chemistry with him.”
Briefly
After initially being listed as double, veteran safety Harrison Smith has been downgraded to out. He will not travel with the Vikings for the matchup with the Bears.
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