EAGAN, Minn. — After a dismal offensive performance on Monday Night Football, the Minnesota Vikings appear to be getting a much-needed boost.
The team announced that All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson will be activated on Tuesday from injured reserve. While it's not entirely certain that the the reigning Offensive Player of the Year will play on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas, he will be eligible to return. Jefferson has missed seven games with a hamstring injury and was questionable heading into the Vikings' game with the Bears, but coaches have expressed extreme caution when it comes to his return.
Jefferson spent four weeks on injured reserve before returning to practice earlier this month. While participating in practice for the past three weeks, Jefferson had yet to be a full participant in practice heading into Monday, which ultimately resulted in him being inactive for yet another week.
Now, Jefferson and the Vikings will have a bye week to evaluate the 24-year-old receiver, and determine whether or not he'll make his much-anticipated return.
"Justin was close to having a chance to go in last night, but the best thing for him and for our team moving forward was to get through the bye and ultimately have him at 100% coming out of the bye as we take on the Raiders on the road," said Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell on Tuesday.
Despite missing one of — if not the best — offensive weapons in football, Minnesota was able to revive its season with five consecutive wins, two coming without starting quarterback Kirk Cousins who will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his Achilles in Week 8 against Green Bay.
Minnesota traded for quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who has been learning the offense on the fly. In his four games with the Vikings, Dobbs completed 85 of 128 passes (66.4%) for 832 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed for 142 yards and three TDs, however, a four-interception game on Monday night — as well as O'Connell's comments after Monday's game — have opened the door for speculation about what the team will do out of the bye.
In his comments following Minnesota's 12-10 loss to the Bears, O'Connell was asked about the quarterback position moving forward.
"We're going to take a look and really evaluate the inventory of plays we have of Josh," said O'Connell in Monday night's postgame press conference. "We got healthy. We got Jaren (Hall) back available to us, and then Nick Mullens is available as well."
O'Connell also said he was contemplating replacing Dobbs late in Monday night's game before he led Minnesota on a go-ahead touchdown drive with less than four minutes to play. The Bears eventually marched into field goal range and Cairo Santos delivered the game-clinching kick with 10 seconds to play, leaving Minnesota searching for answers entering its bye week.
Hall has appeared in two games this season, however, neither appearance was very extensive. His first appearance came in the waning minutes of the Vikings' win over the Packers after Cousins' injury. The second game, his first career start, came against the Atlanta Falcons but was cut short when he was injured on the second series. Dobbs took over and led the Vikings to an improbable win, despite being traded just days prior. Hall was effective in his two series against Atlanta, completing 5 of 6 passes for 78 yards, including a 47-yard connection with Alexander Mattison. He led the team into field goal range before injuring his head on a third-down scramble near the goal line.
Mullens is in his sixth NFL season — second with the Vikings — and likely has the most familiarity with the offense. He spent last season serving as the team's backup but missed time earlier this season with a back injury.
Whatever direction O'Connell decides to go, having Jefferson back on the field will provide a major boost for an offense that's scored just two touchdowns over its last six quarters. Before getting injured in Week 5, Jefferson had 36 catches for 571 yards and three touchdowns. Rookie receiver Jordan Addison has also emerged in Jefferson's absence, catching 35 passes for 437 yards and four touchdowns over the last seven weeks.
"We'll take the time over these next couple days to really evaluate, not only Monday night, but the previous body of work and just see where we're at as an offense knowing that we'll get Justin back in this offense to solidify our skill group to be the strong group that we think that it is with Jordan and T.J. (Hockenson) and K.J. (Osborn). Brandon Powell has done some nice things. Ty (Chandler) and (Alexander Mattison) both had some real solid moments last night as well," said O'Connell on Tuesday afternoon. "When you're looking at our skill group, overall, I think the quarterback position needs to be evaluated just to figure out what we think gives us the best chance to win. ... I don't think there's any particular timeline (on deciding who will be the quarterback), but we'll have some dialogue as a staff, we'll have some dialogue to ultimately figure out what we feel is best and then we'll prepare accordingly."
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