It's official: Vikings superstar receiver Justin Jefferson will miss his seventh (and almost certainly final) game tonight against the Bears on Monday Night Football. He's been downgraded to out by the team.
Jefferson has been out since suffering a hamstring injury against the Chiefs back in Week 5. The Vikings have managed to go 5-1 in his absence, and they'll look to make it 6-1 against Chicago. Jefferson returned to practice a few weeks ago, but all along, it's been clear that the team was going to exercise plenty of caution with his hamstring.
Obviously, the Vikings would love to have Jefferson back tonight. But their primary concern is making sure he's absolutely 100 percent for the stretch run of this season and for many years to come. With that in mind, it's been apparent for a while now that the most likely scenario was a return after the Vikings' Week 13 bye. By sitting out tonight, Jefferson has another two weeks to get ready for his highly-anticipated return to action in Vegas on December 10th.
Against the Bears, the Vikings' top targets for Josh Dobbs will once again be T.J. Hockenson, Jordan Addison, K.J. Osborn, and Brandon Powell.
Minnesota also elevated linebacker Anthony Barr from the practice squad to the active roster for the second consecutive week. He made his season debut last weekend against the Broncos and played 12 snaps, a number that could increase on MNF. Rookie Ivan Pace Jr. handled an every-down role and green dot responsibilities in the wake of Jordan Hicks landing on IR.
Kickoff is at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN and ABC.
More must-reads: