JUSTIN JEFFERSON NEWS

Leads pass catchers in loss Jefferson brought in six of seven targets for 84 yards in the Vikings' 14-7 loss to the Browns on Sunday.

Impact Jefferson looked like he was headed for another big day when he capped off the Vikings' opening 14-play drive with a 12-yard touchdown grab. He did end up pacing Minnesota in receptions and receiving yards for the day, and the 22-year-old now has a touchdown grab in three straight games. Jefferson will look to boost his overall production at the expense of a vulnerable Lions secondary in a Week 5 home matchup.

OCTOBER 3, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Tops century mark in win Jefferson caught nine of 11 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 30-17 win over the Seahawks.

Impact The second-year wideout led the Vikings in catches, targets and yards in his best performance yet this season. Jefferson is averaging 10 targets a game through three weeks with the production to match, and he'll remain the most dangerous weapon at Kirk Cousins' disposal heading into a Week 4 clash with the Browns.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Every Justin Jefferson catch from 118-yard game ' Week 3 Watch every catch by Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson from his 118-yard game in Week 3 of the 2021 season.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 • NFL.COM

Justin Jefferson finds space in Seahawks' secondary for open 26-yard gain Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson gets open for a 26-yard reception.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 • NFL.COM

Grabs TD in Sunday's loss Jefferson caught six of 10 targets for 65 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 34-33 loss to the Cardinals.

Impact The second-year receiver hauled in a 14yard toss from Kirk Cousins midway through the second quarter, giving the Vikings a 20-7 lead they eventually squandered. Jefferson led Minnesota in targets on the day and tied Adam Thielen for the team lead in catches, but it was K.J. Osborn who led the club in receiving yards. Jefferson will look to put together another strong effort in Week 3 at home against the Seahawks.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Just misses TD in Week 1 loss Jefferson caught five of nine targets for 71 yards and added an 11-yard pass in Sunday's 27-24 overtime loss to the Bengals.

Impact Jefferson came just shy of finding the end zone early in the fourth quarter, but he was ruled short of the goal line even after a Vikings challenge and watched Dalvin Cook punch it in on the next play. In addition to his contributions as a receiver, Jefferson also got a chance to throw the ball on a designed rollout, finding K.J. Osborn for an 11-yard gain. Osborn established himself as the team's third wide receiver with seven catches for 76 yards on nine targets in this one, and Adam Thielen found the end zone twice, but Jefferson remains a major component of the Vikings' offense heading into a Week 2 trip to Arizona.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Trick-play alert! Justin Jefferson's first career pass goes for 11-yard gain Trick-play alert! Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson's first career pass goes for 11-yard gain.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2021 • NFL.COM

Good to go for Week 1 Jefferson (shoulder) isn't listed on the Vikings' injury report Wednesday, Craig Peters of the team's official site reports.

Impact The Vikings held Jefferson out of their entire preseason schedule due to an AC joint sprain that he sustained in his left shoulder Aug. 6. He returned to practice as of Aug. 16, and he's now back to 100 percent on the eve of the regular season. Despite totaling just five catches for 70 yards in the first two games of his rookie campaign in 2020, Jefferson still finished with a ridiculous 88-1,400-7 line on 125 targets.

SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and others who could break NFL records this season

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SEPTEMBER 8, 2021

Held out of second exhibition Jefferson (shoulder) didn't play in Saturday's preseason defeat to the Colts.

Impact Per Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jefferson was among the Vikings listed as "not expected to play," but there were some positive signs pregame in the wide receiver's recovery from an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. First, Jefferson took part in early warmups, according to Krammer, and he later donned pads and caught passes, Arif Hasan of The Athletic reports. Jefferson took part in recent practices for the first time since Aug. 6, including mixing into team drills, and Saturday's developments indicate he could be cleared for all activity sooner than later. With Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen (thigh) playing Saturday, the Vikings may have put their "dress rehearsal" for the regular season in the rear-view mirror, meaning the duo and Jefferson may not see game action again until Week 1 at Cincinnati.

AUGUST 22, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Justin Jefferson Returns To Practice, Will Not Play In Saturday's Pre-Season Game Justin Jefferson has returned to practice but will not play in Saturday's pre-season game.

AUGUST 17, 2021 • 247SPORTS.COM

Not expected to play Saturday Coach Mike Zimmer noted that Jefferson (shoulder) is not likely to play in Saturday's preseason game against the Colts, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Impact Playing it safe with the talented second-year wideout is a sound approach, so it doesn't look like Jefferson will see any exhibition snaps before Aug. 27 against Kansas City. That said, Zimmer indicated Jefferson, who suffered a shoulder injury in practice Aug. 6, is doing "good," which bodes well for the 2020 first-rounder's chances of being at or close to full strength for Week 1 action.

AUGUST 17, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Participating in practice Jefferson (shoulder) participated in some team drills at Monday's practice, Eric Smith of the Vikings' official site reports.

Impact Jefferson appears to have been limited in his return to practice, but in any case it's encouraging to see him back on the field handling team reps. The second-year pro sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder Aug. 6, but coach Mike Zimmer downplayed the severity of Jefferson's injury from the beginning. The timing of Jefferson's return to practice will provide him just under a month's time to ramp up his workload before Week 1. Of course, if Jefferson isn't back at full speed by the time Saturday's exhibition matchup against the Colts kicks off, the Vikings could opt to delay his preseason debut.

AUGUST 16, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

'Top 100 Players of 2021': Justin Jefferson ' No. 53 Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been voted as the No. 53 player in the NFL on the "Top 100 Players of 2021" rankings.

AUGUST 16, 2021 • NFL.COM

Should be ready soon Jefferson (shoulder) likely would be able to play this weekend if the Vikings had a regular-season game, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.

Impact The Vikings have downplayed the severity of Jefferson's AC joint sprain, including coach Mike Zimmer telling reporters Monday that he expected a "pretty quick" return to practice. The star wideout obviously won't suit up for Saturday's preseason game against Denver, but it doesn't sound like there's much concern about Week 1. Jefferson even took some half-speed reps at Wednesday's practice, per Pelissero.

AUGUST 11, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

To return to practice soon Coach Mike Zimmer said Monday that he expects Jefferson (shoulder) to make a "pretty quick" return to practice, Eric Smith of the Vikings' official site reports.

Impact Jefferson has been sidelined since landing on his left shoulder at the end of a catch at Friday's training camp session. He was eventually diagnosed with an AC joint sprain, which was accompanied by a "day-to-day" timeline. The Vikings likely will exercise the utmost caution with the second-year wide receiver, making it difficult to tell if the team will allow Jefferson to see any action in Saturday's preseason opener against the Broncos.

AUGUST 9, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Considered day-to-day Jefferson (shoulder) underwent testing Friday that came back clean, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Impact Jefferson exited Friday's practice early due to a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder, but he appears to have avoided a significant injury. The 22-year-old may be brought along slowly in the coming days to prevent against a setback, but he's received encouraging news so far.

AUGUST 7, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Sprains AC joint in shoulder Jefferson sprained the AC joint in his left shoulder and is scheduled for additional testing, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Impact The wideout left Friday's practice early, walking off the field without moving his injured arm after a hard fall. The initial diagnosis alone would give him a shot to be healthy for Week 1, but the Vikings still need to make sure there are no additional issues beyond the AC joint sprain.

AUGUST 6, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Injures arm in practice Jefferson left Friday's practice with an apparent arm/wrist injury, Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Impact Jefferson reportedly clutched his left wrist and kept the injured arm down at his side while walking off the field with trainers. He's been busy at training camp, and Friday's injury occurred when he was targeted on three consecutive snaps.

AUGUST 6, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Justin Jefferson tells Randy Moss: 'I've never had a slump' On the NFL: Second-year receiver Justin Jefferson scoffs at Hall of Famer Randy Moss' notion of a sophomore slump, and believes he can overc...

AUGUST 2, 2021 • STARTRIBUNE.COM

Hyped for Year 2 Jefferson says he's "way more confident" than he was last year, Lindsey Young of vikings.com reports.

Impact Confident or not, the 2020 first-round pick was a smash hit as soon as he joined the starting lineup lineup Week 3. From that point forward, he averaged 5.9 catches for 95.0 yards on 8.5 targets per game, with seven touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions in 14 contests. Adam Thielen scored 12 TDs in that same stretch, yet otherwise played second fiddle to the rookie, averaging 5.0 catches for 60.3 yards on 7.1 targets. Defensive coordinators now figure to treat Jefferson as the No. 1 receiver on a regular basis, though Thielen and RB Dalvin Cook certainly still merit plenty of attention. Vikings QB Kirk Cousins believes Jefferson is already among the elite at his position, with Cousins saying the "next step" for the young wideout is simply to do the same thing again and thus establish consistency in the NFL.

JULY 30, 2021 • ROTOWIRE

Is this the NFL's Golden Age of receivers? Top 10 list sparks discussion

A list of the NFL's top 10 receivers has sparked the notion that this might be the greatest era ever for pass-catchers.

JULY 17, 2021

Justin Jefferson outranks Dalvin Cook in recent Top 100 list Does Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson deserve to be considered a better player than Dalvin Cook heading into the 2021 season...

JULY 12, 2021 • THEVIKINGAGE.COM

Are expectations too high for Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson? As good as Justin Jefferson was in his rookie season with the Minnesota Vikings, have expectations gotten too high in Year 2? Justin Jeffers...

JUNE 30, 2021 • THEVIKINGAGE.COM

Justin Jefferson & 'The Griddy' Voted The Checkdown's 'Signature Celly' by Fans Minnesota Vikings Latest News

JUNE 28, 2021 • VIKINGS.COM