MN Vikings Provide Massive Injury News on Key Wideouts

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Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings completed their second preseason game of 2025 on Saturday. That means, we have just a single road contest against the Tennessee Titans remaining on the exhibition schedule, and that week one of the regular season — on Monday Night Football (Sept 8) in Chicago — is getting so close you can almost taste it.

This offseason, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah did most of his heavy lifting in the Vikings’ trenches, overhauling both the offensive and defensive lines, leaving them with arguably the best supporting cast and coaching staff in the league for a young QB like JJ McCarthy.

Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

You wouldn’t think wide receiver would be a position of need for a team that employs Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, but life isn’t lived in a vacuum. Justin Jefferson has sat out the last three-plus weeks of training camp, nursing a hamstring injury.

There’s been little concern that Jefferson will miss non-exhibition games, and there have been some reports of late that his return to practice was imminent. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for rising young WR2, Jordan Addison, whose three-game suspension will begin at the start of the regular season.

Justin Jefferson returns to practice for Minnesota Vikings

Oh, and WR3 Jalen Nailor recently hurt himself in worrisome fashion during last week’s joint practices vs the New England Patriots, leaving his status for week one up in the air too. Thankfully, Kevin O’Connell provided significant updates regarding Jefferson and others in the WR room. As expected, the Justin update was good news.

For the past couple of weeks Jefferson has been seen only smiling and jogging around the practice field as he goes through treatment for his injured hamstring. With a full week before the end of the preseason and exactly three weeks until the Bears game, Jefferson has plenty of time to ramp up.

There’s no reason to believe that ramp-up will include any playing time against the Titans. Healthy or not, there’s not enough to gain by putting the best wide receiver in the sport in harm’s way for a meaningless game. The return to practice is what’s important.

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Jefferson played in just 10 games two seasons ago after suffering a hamstring injury. Last year he was healthy and totaled 1,533 yards across 17 games. He is going to be the top target for new quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and the pair can continue working on their chemistry with him back on the field.

Grim news for MN Vikings Jalen Nailor

In part thanks to Jefferson and Nailor’s injuries, Jordan Addison’s suspension — stemming from a “wet reckless” alcohol-related driving arrest last year — has already proven to be a big hindrance for the Minnesota Vikings offense, and it hasn’t even started yet. Unfortunately, KOC didn’t bring a lot of good news, when it comes to Nailor’s injury.

Week-to-week is not an ideal designation, and neither is the possibility of surgery. Jalen Nailor operated as the third wide receiver last season after K.J. Osborn departed in free agency. The results were largely mixed, and him serving as WR2 with Addison out already seemed problematic.

Now facing the possibility of at least a notable amount of missed time, the Vikings are backed into a corner. Adofo-Mensah must go find another wide receiver, and two of them isn’t unrealistic either.

Amari Cooper is the top name left in free agency, but Gabriel Davis and familiar face Brandon Powell are there too. No matter what, acting sooner rather than later, while giving the player time to develop chemistry with McCarthy, is imperative.

Josh Metellus back for MN Vikings too

Minnesota had multiple injury scares during their joint practices with the New England Patriots last week. Nailor and Josh Metellus were among the most notable of them. While Nailor appears down for a while, the do-it-all safety is already back.

Minnesota recently handed Metellus a shiny new contract and the Swiss Army Knife has earned every bit of it. He has played in all 17 games each of the past three seasons and lines up all over the place.

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Last year Metellus racked up 103 tackles with two behind the line of scrimmage. He picked off a pair of passes, which was a new single-season career high. Metellus also forced a fumble and had six quarterback hits. He is an absolute menace all over the field.

With Cam Bynum having departed for the Indianapolis Colts, and Theo Jackson taking his traditional safety role, Metellus could be relied on more than ever.

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