When the Minnesota Vikings take on the Chicago Bears on Monday night, the team will still be without wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who hasn't played since Week 5 against Kansas City because of a hamstring injury.
Monday will make for the seventh game in a row that Jefferson has missed. Is he nearing a return at this point?
When is Jefferson coming back to action? What is his fantasy football outlook when he returns? Let's dive in.
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Justin Jefferson Latest Injury Update - November 29
Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (hamstring) was activated from Injured Reserve to the 53-man active roster on Tuesday. Jefferson has missed each of the team's last seven games after being placed on IR after Week 5 with a hamstring injury. Minnesota is on a bye in Week 13, so his potential return could come against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 14. When Jefferson is active, he's a must-start option in all leagues.
His ceiling could be reduced with Joshua Dobbs, Jaren Hall, or Nick Mullen under center, but his upside outweighs the risk. T.J. Hockenson, Jordan Addison, and K.J. Osborn will likely see reduced target shares when the reigning Offensive Player of the Year returns.
Justin Jefferson Injury Update for Fantasy Football
While the Minnesota Vikings will be without Justin Jefferson for the team's Week 12 contest against the Chicago Bears, it sounds like the star wide receiver is getting fairly close to returning to the football field.
The Vikings will be on a bye next week, but right now it appears the plan is for Justin Jefferson to return to the football field in Week 14 when the Vikings face the Las Vegas Raiders.
This is good news for fantasy managers who have had Jefferson stashed since his initial injury, waiting on the star receiver to return to the football field.
Justin Jefferson Fantasy Football Outlook
Considering it sounds like Jefferson was close to playing in Week 12 and now has a Week 13 bye ahead of him to get him even healthier, fantasy managers should feel confident about deploying Jefferson as a fantasy WR1 as soon as he's back.
His ceiling might be a tad lower with Joshua Dobbs under center instead of Kirk Cousins, but we're talking about a player who averaged 114.2 receiving yards per game in the first five games of the season. He led the NFL in receptions and receiving yards in 2022.
Fantasy managers should have no hesitation when it comes to playing Jefferson during the fantasy football playoffs, assuming they were able to find their way there after losing their first round pick just five weeks into the season.
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