Justin Jefferson made his long-awaited return to the football field this week, but it didn’t last very long.
About halfway through the second quarter of the Vikings game against the Raiders, Minnesota QB Josh Dobbs found Jefferson over the middle on third down. However, unfortunately for Jefferson, Raiders safety Marcus Epps found Jefferson and delivered a bone-jarring hit.
Justin Jefferson’s filthy route-running is back…but he took a huge shot and is in the medical tent pic.twitter.com/dJqqHTUMEx
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) December 10, 2023
Jefferson eventually made his way off the field but did not return and was ultimately transported to the hospital for evaluation. Dobbs certainly did his receiver no favors by throwing the ball high and over the middle where a defender could load up and deliver a hit like that. The Vikings had been without Jefferson’s services for two months while they waited for him to recover from a hamstring injury.
It’s unknown how long Minnesota will be without Jefferson this time. However, some optimism may be gleaned from the fact that Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said after the game that Jefferson had been released from the hospital and would travel back to Minnesota on the team plane.
Dobbs was eventually benched for poor play, but the Vikings managed to hold on and escape Las Vegas with a 3-0 win. The victory improved Minnesota’s record to 7-6, putting the Vikings only two games behind division-leading Detroit.