As the Minnesota Vikings were attempting to score in the fourth quarter of their Week 5 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Justin Jefferson slipped on the U.S. Bank Stadium turf in the middle of a pass route and immediately limped off of the field.
That was the last we saw of Jefferson in the game on Sunday, as the Vikings held him out for the remainder of the contest.
Minnesota wound up losing 27-20 to the Chiefs, and Jefferson not being available for the majority of the fourth quarter certainly played a part in the result of this Week 5 matchup.
After the loss, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell shared the little info that he had about Jefferson's injury to the media members who were in attendance for his press conference.
"Justin Jefferson did sustain a hamstring injury. I'll keep you guys updated on that. It's still very early. see where he's at as we move along here and kind of diagnose exactly what that injury is and what that timeline looks like."
So, based on what O'Connell said, we don't really know how much time Jefferson might have to miss due to his hamstring injury or if he'll have to miss any time at all.
It depends on the severity of the injury, but most hamstring injuries typically don't heal after just one week. So it is definitely a possibility that Jefferson could be sidelined for Minnesota's Week 6 game against the Chicago Bears next Sunday.
If the star wide receiver needs to miss time in order for his injury to heal properly, then one would imagine the goal of the Vikings would be for him to be healthy enough to return for their Week 7 Monday-night matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on October 23rd.
Hamstring injuries in the NFL typically take anywhere from a couple of days to three weeks to heal, depending on the severity. Jefferson's risk of re-injuring his hamstring will be at its highest during the first two weeks after the original date of the injury, so the Vikings need to avoid putting him back out on the field too soon.
We'll know more later in the week when Minnesota releases their injury reports on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. But it seems like Vikings fans should probably be prepared to see Jefferson on the sideline when they take on the Bears next week.