The smile on the face of receiver Jordan Addison said it all.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) stretches out to catch a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers in the third quarter of a NFL football game at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. The Vikings edged the Packers, 27-25. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

After missing the win over the Chicago Bears, the loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and the win over the Cincinnati Bengals while serving his suspension, Addison is set to make his return on Sunday when the Vikings play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin, Ireland.

“My first game back going overseas,” Addison said. “It don’t get no better than that.”

That level of excitement was shared by head coach Kevin O’Connell earlier this week as he prepared to put together a game plan that included Addison as a part of the offense for the first time this season.

“It’s phenomenal to get him back,” O’Connell said. “We’ve had to kind of weather the storm a little bit early on.”

The numbers help illustrate those struggles.

Nobody on the Vikings other than Justin Jefferson has more than 10 receptions and more than 100 receiving yards.

There hasn’t been much production from Adam Thielen or Jalen Nailor, and while tight end T.J. Hockenson might have found his stride, the playmakers for the Vikings need to do more to help whoever is throwing them the ball.

The production should increase across the board now that Jefferson and Addison are leading the charge.

“The way I look at it is with Jordan back we really have four starters at that receiver position,” O’Connell said. “We’ll use those guys accordingly and try to keep people fresh and make sure we’re maximizing the fact that we’ve got really good depth.”

The number of playmakers at his disposal is certainly something veteran quarterback Carson Wentz is looking forward to as he prepares to start under center.

“I get to see the juice that these guys bring with their ability to get in and out of cuts,” Wentz said. “It’s been impressive to see, and I’m excited to play point guard, so to speak, and distribute the ball to them.”

Though he wasn’t allowed to participate in practice or play in games, Addison was allowed to be around TCO Performance Center over the final couple of weeks of his suspension

“Just being isolated by myself I was in my thoughts a lot,” Addison said. “Just being able to come back in the building and chill with my teammates and crack jokes and laugh, it was a big part in the process of coming back.”

Not only did that help Addison stay connected with his teammates, even when he couldn’t be on the field with them, it also helped him stay involved in everything going on behind the scenes so he wasn’t lost when he got back.

“He has been able to be in the building and be in meetings to stay sharp mentally,” O’Connell said. “Now it’ll just be getting him a full week of work.”

The hope is that Addison can pick up right where he left off in the summer when he was routinely making plays.

“He had an unbelievable training camp,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. “He looked like a man on a mission.”

It will be interesting to see how quickly Addison can get up to speed after missing so much time. Not that he seems too concerned. Asked if he feels like he can handle a full workload, Addison smiled and nodded his head.

“The strength staff did a good job preparing me,” Addison said. “I’m going to get right back in and get it going.”

Briefly

As he works his way back to 100 percent, quarterback J.J. McCarthy (ankle) did not practice on Wednesday afternoon. Others that did not participate included defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (chest), left guard Donovan Jackson (wrist), edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel (neck) and tight end Ben Yurosek (knee).

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Takeaways from the Vikings’ 48-10 win over the Bengals

A lawsuit filed this week asks for the release of Omar Jamal, a Somali community advocate and Ramsey County sheriff civilian officer who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month.

Jamal was picked up by ICE agents on Aug. 29 in Minneapolis and remains at the Freeborn County jail in Albert Lea, where many federal detainees are held. In 2005, Jamal was convicted in federal court in Tennessee on immigration fraud and sentenced to a year of probation.

Omar Jamal speaks at a news conference at the state Capitol in St. Paul on Jan. 27, 2005. (John Doman / Pioneer Press)

Attorneys for Jamal, of Minneapolis, filed a petition in U.S. District Court of Minnesota asking a judge to immediately review the legality of Jamal’s detention. A temporary restraining order seeks to stop ICE from sending him to another country without full due process.

“To be perfectly clear: the United States government is legally and permanently barred from deporting my client, Omar Jamal, to Somalia,” said Abdiqani Jabane, Jamal’s lead counsel, on Wednesday. “This is not a matter of administrative discretion; it is a final, binding order from a U.S. immigration court.”

An immigration judge in 2005 granted Jamal “withholding of removal” to Somalia after finding his life or freedom would be threatened there, according to Jabane, who added the decision was upheld in 2011.

“This form of protection is mandatory and permanent,” he said. “It means the government cannot send him to Somalia under any circumstances unless a court overturns that order, which has not happened.”

Since Somalia is legally off the table, ICE has spent over a decade trying to send Jamal to Canada, which has refused to give him a travel document, said Nico Ratkowski, Jabane’s co-counsel.

“Basically, the only thing they can do is they could theoretically deport him to a third country, if they’re willing to accept him,” Ratkowski said. “But, in reality, that’s never happening.”

If Canada wants to give Jamal a travel document, Ratkowski said, ICE is “absolutely allowed to deport him there. But if they want to try to deport him to Uganda, an immigration judge should get to review whether or not that’s actually safe.”

Applied in Canada, U.S.

According to a 2003 federal indictment, Jamal applied for refugee status after arriving in Toronto in 1989 at age 16 and was granted immigrant status two years later. He then failed to disclose his Canadian immigrant status when he applied for asylum in Memphis in 1998.

Jamal was indicted and arrested in 2003, when he was the executive director of the now-defunct Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul and an outspoken critic of government efforts to deport Somali refugees to their war-torn homeland. He was found guilty of six counts of immigration fraud, and at risk of deportation.

Jamal’s arrest in Minneapolis was caught on video by the conservative news website Newsmax, which was on a ride-along with the ICE St. Paul field office. A portion of the Newsmax report was later shared on Homeland Security’s X account.

The Department of Homeland Security soon released a statement that said Jamal’s “rap sheet” also includes assault and a court ordered restraining order from his wife and children.

Jabane disputes that claim, saying Jamal told him the assault allegation and restraining order were dismissed. Court records show his criminal history in Minnesota is made up of traffic violations.

Law enforcement work

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Jamal has worked with law enforcement, raised a family and remained in full compliance with the law, Jabane said; his arrest “shocked a community that knows him not as a danger, but as a bridge-builder.”

Jamal, who joined the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office as a civilian community service officer in 2020, also has the backing of Sheriff Bob Fletcher. At the request of Jabane, Fletcher provided an affidavit in which he said he supports a request for Jamal’s release under supervision.

“In my experience, Mr. Jamal has demonstrated professionalism and a commitment to community well-being,” the affidavit read. “I have never known him to pose a threat to public safety. On the contrary, he has often acted as a stabilizing presence and a mediator in complex situations.”

Longtime chaplain for Loyola Chicago’s men’s basketball team, Sister Jean, has retired at 106 because of health concerns. The school’s student newspaper, The Loyola Phoenix, announced her retirement earlier this month.

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Sister Jean rose to the spotlight during Loyola Chicago’s trip to the Final Four in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. She was spotted cheering courtside throughout the Ramblers’ improbable run.

She published a memoir in 2023, “Wake Up with Purpose! What I’ve Learned in My First 100 Years,” sharing lessons she’d learned throughout her life and offering spiritual advice. Sister Jean turned 106 on Aug. 21.

Sister Jean served as the team’s chaplain for 30 years, providing players with support, mentorship and encouragement. She became a beloved figure at the university and a local celebrity in the community.

By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was the victim of “three very sinister events” during his time at the United Nations on Tuesday and that the Secret Service will be looking into the issues.

The president was attending the U.N. General Assembly, where he gave a speech excoriating the institution for having squandered its potential. He also criticized U.S. allies in Europe for their handling of the Russian war in Ukraine and their acceptance of immigrants as he told fellow world leaders that their nations were “going to hell.”

On his social media website, Trump indicated that he was in a sour mood at the U.N. because of a trio of mishaps that he suggested was part of a conspiracy against him.

First, the escalator came to a “screeching halt” with Trump and his entourage on it, an event that Trump called “absolutely sabotage.”

Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, said a videographer from the U.S. delegation who ran ahead of Trump may have “inadvertently” triggered the stop mechanism at the top of the escalator.

“The people that did it should be arrested,” Trump said on Truth Social.

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Second, Trump said his teleprompter went “stone cold dark” during his address to the U.N. The problem with that accusation is the White House was responsible for operating the teleprompter for the president, according to a U.N. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Third, Trump said that the sound was off at the U.N. as he spoke and that people could only hear his remarks if they had interpreters speaking into earpieces. Trump said his wife, Melania, told him she couldn’t hear what he said.

“This wasn’t a coincidence, this was triple sabotage,” said Trump, who is seeking an investigation of the matter.

Trump told the U.N. to save its security tapes regarding the escalator stoppage as the Secret Service will be involved in the inquiry.