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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By JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. John Burton, a salty-tongued and unabashedly liberal San Francisco Democrat who stood up for the working class and nurtured countless political careers, including that of former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, died Sunday. He was 92.

Burton died in San Francisco of natural causes, his family said in a statement.

Tributes poured in from California’s top politicians, who recalled Burton as a fierce and tireless advocate for laborers, foster children and the environment. Over the years, Burton mentored Pelosi, former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, current U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla and countless other California officials.

“There was no greater champion for the poor, the bullied, the disabled, and forgotten Californians than John Burton. He was a towering figure — a legendary force whose decades of service shaped our state and our politics for the better,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco, in a statement.

Another former San Francisco mayor, Willie Brown, said Sunday that death had managed to separate him from a dear friend who was by his side for decades — as college students where they first met, as fellow newbies in the state Assembly and as influential members of California’s Democratic political machine.

“John Burton may have been the best person with whom I served as a member of the Legislature,” said Brown.

Burton believed that government was at its best when it served those who needed it the most, and he never backed down from a fight, said state Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks.

“The greatest way to honor John Burton is to keep fighting with the same grit, tenacity, and heart that defined his life,” Hicks said in a statement.

“He cared a lot,” said Burton’s daughter, Kimiko Burton. “He always instilled in me that we fight for the underdog. There are literally millions of people whose lives he helped over the years who have no idea who he is.”

John Lowell Burton was born Dec. 15, 1932, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in San Francisco with plans to teach history and coach high school basketball.

But he followed his older brother, Phillip Burton, into politics and in 1964 was elected to the state Assembly. A decade later, he moved on to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he pushed legislation protecting wilderness areas in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and condemning apartheid in South Africa.

Burton stepped down in 1982 to address a cocaine addiction, but he didn’t stay gone for long.

In 1988, he returned to the California Assembly and in 1996 he won a state Senate seat, rising to become the chamber’s president. He retired from elected politics in 2004 — only to head up the California Democratic Party from 2009 to 2017.

After retiring, he founded a nonprofit dedicated to foster youth. A remembrance posted Sunday by John Burton Advocates for Youth quoted his exasperation with the lack of resources available for foster youth who aged out of the foster care system.

“Emancipated from what? And into what?” he asked. “Into not being able to have a roof over their heads? Into being frozen out of a chance at higher education? Into unemployment? Into a life on the welfare rolls? Into homelessness? Into jail?”

The organization has advocated successfully for more than 50 legislative reforms, including financial aid for college and extending foster care for some from age 18 to 21.

Barbara Lee, a former U.S. congresswoman and current Oakland mayor, said that in spite of his health challenges, Burton was determined to attend her public inauguration in June, and he did.

“His life’s work reminds us that authentic leadership means having the courage to speak truth to power and never forgetting where you came from,” she said.

In addition to his daughter, Kimiko, Burton is survived by two grandchildren, Juan and Mikala.

Plans for a celebration of life are pending. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his memory to the John Burton Advocates for Youth.

Lydia Kaiser, a student who suffered a brain injury during the mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church and School in Minneapolis on Aug. 27, has been released from the hospital.

Lydia Kaiser, a student at Annunciation Catholic School, was severely injured in the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Courtesy of GoFundMe)

She was injured while protecting a younger student, according to a verified GoFundMe.

A statement from the Kaiser family released by Children’s Minnesota hospital says that she returned home Saturday, ‘after more than a week of thousands of prayers, surgery and constant care from extraordinary medical staff.’

“She is strong and in good spirits,” the statement reads. “Please continue to keep her in your prayers.”

On Thursday, her parents said she had suffered a traumatic brain injury from a bullet and underwent two brain surgeries — one to remove bullet fragments and another ‘to alleviate the swelling and reduce the pressure on her brain caused by her injury.’

Lydia’s parents wrote that she was ‘making remarkable progress in her recovery’ at Children’s Minnesota. They met with Vice President JD Vance and shared their first public remarks on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the family shared an update on GoFundMe on Saturday.

“She is walking, she is talking, she is fighting and she is ever so brave. She has another surgery coming up in the near future. This will be to replace the section of her skull that was removed to allow for swelling of her brain. She will face this surgery with grace, bravery and unbelievable strength,” Jesse Wolf wrote.

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On Saturday, a Children’s Minnesota spokesperson said the hospital is no longer caring for any victims from the Annunciation shooting. Minneapolis hospitals admitted most of the 21 injured people in the aftermath. By Wednesday, only two children had remained hospitalized.

Sophia Forchas, 12, remains hospitalized in critical condition at HCMC as of Friday afternoon.

Two children died after the shooting: 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel.

Fletcher’s funeral is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. A celebration of life for Harper is set for Sept. 14 at the Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis, according to an obituary.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Byron Buxton hit his 30th home run and the Minnesota Twins got the strongest pitching performance by right-hander Bailey Ober in nearly a month to break their six-game losing streak in a 5-1 victory Sunday afternoon against the Kansas City Royals.

Buxton started the top of the first inning against right-hander Michael Lorenzen with his 17th career leadoff homer and ninth of 2025. Buxton’s 30 homers overall build on a career high and tie Tom Brunansky for 10th all-time on the Twins long-ball list with 163. Brian Dozier is ninth at 167.

Ober (4-8) came in with a 5.23 ERA and had not picked up a win in 18 starts since May 3 but he allowed a run, four hits and a walk to go with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. He kept the Royals off the scoreboard until Vinnie Pasquantino hit an RBI single in the sixth.

Buxton exited the game in the bottom of the seventh, two innings after getting hit in the left knee with a pitch. He stayed in to run the bases and played defense in the bottom of the sixth.

An All-Star for the second time, Buxton was playing in his 109th game this season, the second straight year he played in at least 100 games. The 2017 season was the only other time he surpassed that mark, finishing with 140.

After righty Justin Topa left with an injury in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and runners at second and third, left-hander Génesis Cabrera walked rookie Carter Jensen to load the bases.

Mike Yastrzemski, representing the tying run, flied to center for the final out.

The Twins won for the first time this month and improved to 63-80. They have gone 29-52 since June 5.

Kody Clemens added a long two-run home run in the fourth, and Luke Keaschall took home on a double steal in the sixth.

Cole Sands pitched out of traffic in the sixth against Twins killer Salvador Perez, who hit into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Sands did it again in the seventh when Nick Lofton ended a scoring threat with a 5-4-3 double play.

In the eighth against righty Justin Topa, Perez grounded to short with runners at first and second.

Perez came in with a .277/.315/.478 career line against the Twins with 35 home runs, 13th all-time against Minnesota.

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