The Minnesota Vikings are in the Bad Place. That's not an understatement: after experiencing incredible highs this season, the team has fallen into a massive chasm, and it's not because of their own doing. The team was playing well on both sides of the ball, especially the offense. Even with Justin Jefferson out with an injury, the emergence of Jordan Addison and Kirk Cousins' solid play kept them afloat in the NFC North.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles injury during their win against the Green Bay Packers. The injury suddenly sent Minnesota's happy carousel trip careening, and all hope is seemingly lost.
There's a lot of discussion about Cousins, his upcoming contract extension, and whether the Vikings will continue to win. However, lost in all of the discussions recently is Justin Jefferson's situation after this injury. What will the Vikings do with Jefferson now that his star quarterback is injured?
The Vikings' Justin Jefferson conundrum
To recap: Justin Jefferson was placed on the Vikings' injured reserve list after suffering a hamstring injury against the Kansas City Chiefs. Due to the rules of the injured reserve list, Jefferson is forced to miss the next four games after his placement on the list. Sunday's game against the Packers was the third week on JJ's mandatory break.
Jefferson will be cleared to play as soon as Week 10, when the Vikings are able to open the practice window for the star wide receiver. The hope was that the team would be performing well enough to compete for the playoffs when Jefferson returned. Unfortunately, that won't be the case now.
What does this now mean for the Vikings and Justin Jefferson? How will this affect his return?
Dependent on performance
The biggest factor that will affect whether the Vikings and Jefferson decide on his return is the Vikings' performance. Jefferson himself is in line for a new extension, and he's likely getting the max contract from Minnesota or some other team. Health is one of the most important things on Jefferson's mind… but so is competing.
The Vikings have a game against Atlanta coming up before the team can officially open the practice window for Jefferson. That game will likely be a deciding factor (not THE deciding factor) of when (or if) the star returns from his injury. This game will be a test to see whether the team can remain competitive even without Cousins.
The Falcons have one of the better defenses in the league. They do not have an elite pass-rush, but they make up for it with great run-stopping power and a secondary that can wreak havoc. That will be a good test of whether the Vikings' potential Cousins replacement can lead this team to victory.
If Jefferson and the Vikings see that the team can still be competitive on offense without Cousins, then the former might be incentivized to return from his injury. Brian Flores and his aggressive blitzing schemes have reinvigorated the Minnesota defense. Theoretically, the Minnesota offense won't have to outscore their opponents with a backup QB, since they'll have a good defense to back them up. Having Jefferson back also means that the replacement QB will have two elite receivers in him and Addison, a solid offensive line, and a budding run game to support him in a playoff push.
However, it's equally likely that Jefferson might decide to just sit the season out to prevent injury. The Vikings are unlikely to remain competitive without an elite QB. Jefferson is also up for a new contract, and an injury could affect his ability to get paid. It's not like he needs to prove that he's elite: both Minnesota and the rest of the league knows how good he is.
Conclusion
A plan that the Vikings can execute with regards to Jefferson' injury is to activate his practice window as soon as possible, and let him play in Week 10 against the Saints. Then, after the team has gotten a better understanding of their position without Kirk, they can decide whether to let Jefferson play the season out or sit him.
Ultimately, this decision hinges on how bad Jefferson would want to return to the field. The Vikings star is competitive, and he'd want to give his team the best possible shot of making the playoffs. If they have even a solid game-manager at QB, Minnesota can go pretty deep in an NFC conference that's looking shaky recently. The next few days will tell us more about the Vikings and Justin Jefferson's plan for his injury.
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