Along with a few other things, the health of star Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been one of the top discussion topics among the team's fan base for the last few weeks.
Jefferson missed a good chunk of Vikings training camp this summer after suffering a mild hamstring injury. But he returned to practice in the middle of last month, and the concerns about his injury definitely quieted down after that.
On Thursday, those concerns were essentially silenced when Jefferson wasn't among the players listed on Minnesota's first injury report for Week 1 that the team released.
The #Vikings first injury report of the 2025 season pic.twitter.com/mZmPqZzE3y
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 4, 2025
Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson nowhere to be found on team's first injury report before Week 1 agains the Chicago Bears
Following Thursday's practice, Jefferson shared how his hamstring is currently feeling as he continues to prepare for Monday's showdown in Chicago.
"It feels great. Definitely credit to the training staff and the guys in the training room for really prepping me up until this point.
Just missing [almost] all of training camp and staying in that training room, [you definitely have some] dark days in there working hard and not being with the team. It definitely gets tough being by yourself and competing with yourself, but you gotta think about the ending result into having a healthy body, having a strong body to maintain a full season."
Against the Bears next week, Jefferson will be playing inside Soldier Field, a venue where he hasn't finished with more than 50 receiving yards in a game since his rookie season in 2020.
Of course, he will be going up against a Chicago team that will be running a different defensive scheme this season under new coordinator Dennis Allen. In two games where Allen was either the head coach or defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, Jefferson averaged eight catches for 116 yards.
So, with Allen now running the defense for the Bears, Minnesota should feel pretty good about its All-Pro receiver putting together a memorable performance to kick off the regular season on Monday.
And even if Jefferson doesn't have a monster game, just having him on the field in Chicago is going to give the Vikings a much better chance to begin the 2025 campaign with a 1-0 record.