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Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson practices fully for first time since hamstring injury

dane mizutani, pioneer press
·3 min read

Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson has taken a big step in his recovery process.

After sustaining a hamstring injury on Oct. 8 during a home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Jefferson finally participated fully in practice for the Vikings on Wednesday at TCO Performance Center, paving the way for him to make his highly anticipated return to game action.

It seems as if everything is in place for Jefferson to play on Sunday afternoon when the Vikings travel to play the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.

Though he was designated for return from injured reserve on Nov. 8, Jefferson has been slowly progressing toward getting back on the field. He has been ramping things up over the past few weeks with the Vikings being cautious to not to rush their best player back.

Now it appears to be only a matter of time. It’s worth noting that Jefferson is scheduled to talk to reporters on Thursday.

Hockenson at full strength

You’d never know simply by talking to Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson how much pain he’s been in over the past month. He’s battling through a rib injury that likely won’t go away at any point this season. It’s limited him in most practices of late with the Vikings doing everything in their power to make sure he’s good to go for games.

Not that Hockenson would ever complain. The only time he ever talks about his rib injury is when he’s asked about it. Even then he tries to brush it off like it’s no big deal.

That said, Hockenson admitted the bye week was very helpful for him, namely because it gave him some extra time to recover. Instead of willingly getting crunched by opposing players for a few hours, he got to kick his feet up and relax for a few days. He was not listed on the injury report on Wednesday afternoon.

“I felt a lot better waking up,” Hockenson said with a laugh. “Sometimes it’s a little hard to get out of bed.”

That wasn’t the case this week as Hockenson was eager to get back to work with the Vikings set to play the Raiders on Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. As much as he enjoyed the bye week and what it had to offer in terms of recovery, he’s had a sour taste in his mouth since the Vikings lost a prime-time game to the Chicago Bears a week and a half ago.

“We want to get back out on the field and show that that’s not who we are,” Hockenson said. “Just tough to go into our bye week and have to think about that kind of stuff. You just want to get back on the field. I think we’re all pretty excited to get back on the field and show what we can do.

Some other injury updates

Vikings cornerback Akayleb Evans (calf) was a full participant in practice on Wednesday afternoon. That’s notable considering Evans has missed the past couple of games. The only other players to show up on the injury report for the Vikings were running back Kene Nwangwu (concussion), cornerback NaJee Thompson (knee), who were limited participants, and safety Theo Jackson (illness), who did not participate.

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