Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is heading into an extremely favorable matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals this week.
In less than a week, the Minnesota Vikings will begin their 2021 regular season with a road matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals.
For Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, it will be his first opportunity to prove that last year’s incredible performance wasn’t a fluke. Judging by some news that was revealed on Monday, Jefferson should have a great chance to put up some impressive numbers during Minnesota’s upcoming regular-season opener.
When speaking to the local media on Monday, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor said that Bengals cornerback Trae Waynes will not be playing in this week’s matchup with the Vikings. And yes, that Trae Waynes.
Justin Jefferson has chance to explode out of the gate in year two with Minnesota Vikings
A hamstring injury is what is apparently keeping Waynes out of action on Sunday against his former team, according to Taylor.
Without him on the field, the Bengals will be hoping that a cornerback duo of Eli Apple and Chidobe Awuzie can do enough to contain Jefferson on Sunday.
Apple and Awuzie are not exactly multiple-time All-Pros, so Jefferson and his partner in crime, Adam Thielen, should be able to exploit this weakness that Cincinnati is entering Week 1 with.
Jefferson was targeted 10 times or more in five of his final six games last season and one would assume that the chances of this happening again on Sunday just experienced a significant increase with the news of Waynes being out.
Speaking of Waynes, the former Vikings first-round pick still hasn’t appeared in a game for the Bengals since he signed a three-year, $42 million contract with them during the 2020 offseason.
He missed all of last year after undergoing surgery on a torn pectoral muscle and then he landed on the team’s Reserve/COVID-19 list. Now, it’s a hamstring injury that is delaying his debut in a Cincinnati uniform.
During his five years with Minnesota, Waynes only missed a total of five games due to injury and he never sat out for more than two matchups in a single season.