Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson sidelined with ‘very mild’ hamstring strain

Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson suffered a left hamstring strain during Thursday’s practice and will be held out for the time being, coach Kevin O’Connell said Friday.

The team will “re-evaluate him next week,” O’Connell said. Jefferson sat out the second half of Thursday’s practice, after which he said he felt tightness in both of his legs. He underwent further testing on his left leg, which revealed a “very mild” hamstring strain, O’Connell said.

“We’re going to be really cautious, obviously,” O’Connell said Friday. “It is not the same leg from a couple years ago.”

“I credit Justin just for his ability to recognize how he was feeling,” he added, “and the fact we were able to avoid anything major.”

Jefferson missed seven games — the longest absence of his NFL career — during the 2023 season because of a right hamstring strain suffered in a home game against the Chiefs.

O’Connell said he has “no concerns” about Jefferson’s availability for the Sept. 8 opener in Chicago on “Monday Night Football.” He declined to give a timetable for Jefferson’s return to practice.

“All I worry about is the next time we’re evaluating him and see how he can start working back in,” O’Connell said. “We’re going to want to be smart with him knowing we’ve got quite a bit of time to prepare. ... We know Justin, at this point in his career, is going to be ready to roll.”

“Disappointing is the wrong word,” O’Connell said. “I think those guys have already developed a rapport. There’s going to be some reps [missed] as we finish off the acclimation period, and as we work into putting on the pads next week, like I said, I have no worries about this having an overall impact on that dynamic or anything with our offense.”

Jefferson, drafted in 2020’s first round, has not played a single snap in an NFL preseason game since his rookie exhibitions were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

O’Connell said Jefferson’s first preseason snap “was not going to happen” this year regardless.

Receivers Jordan Addison and Jalen Nailor move a notch up the depth chart in Jefferson’s absence, which also opens up some first-team reps for others like veteran receiver Rondale Moore, second-year receiver Jeshaun Jones and rookie third-round pick Tai Felton.

Safety Josh Metellus (ankle), safety Harrison Smith (rest) and left tackle Christian Darrisaw (knee) also did not participate in Friday’s practice.

Kelly, who’s been on the players association’s executive committee since 2022, is among the leaders of a union that’s gone through turmoil over the past month, as executive director Lloyd Howell resigned amid investigations into his business practices while at the head of the union. ESPN reported Friday the players association may face federal investigation into potential misuse of union funds and self-enrichment by officials during Howell’s tenure.

Howell resigned on July 17 after an outside investigator hired by the union reportedly received documents showing Howell charged the association for strip club visits in Atlanta and Miami. The union is considering candidates for an interim executive director as players begin training camp; player representatives, including the Vikings’ Harrison Phillips, could vote on a replacement for Howell in the coming days.

”It’s been tough: a lot of hours on the phone the last weekend before training camp,” Kelly said. “But that’s what you sign up for. It’s not just a thankless job. You’re representing the union; you’re representing players and what’s in the best interest for them. So it’s been a little bit of a stain on the union.”

Kelly defended former NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter, who resigned three days after Howell. The former Cleveland center previously served as the players association’s president from 2020 to 2024. “I think a lot of the coverage of JC has been unfair,” Kelly said. “I’ve known him for a long time; he was a fantastic president. No one knows that every answer that went through the [NFLPA’s annual player] survey, two-thousand-something answers, he read through every one of those on an Excel spreadsheet and put it together to highlight organizations” like the Vikings, who have ranked near the top of the survey the past three years.

The “one silver lining in the whole debacle,” Kelly said, was that players are motivated to participate in the union.

Padded practices don’t begin until Monday, but offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said there’s still been plenty for rookie guard Donovan Jackson, the 24th overall pick out of Ohio State, to work on this week.

“The communication with Ryan Kelly, and then just continuing to grow as a player,” Phillips said Friday. “He’s shown a lot of really good things in a couple days of practice already — a lot of the things we liked about him when we drafted him. ... He’s a very conscientious player, a smart, cerebral guy. I think he’ll continue to improve as we go forward.”

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, the former Vikings assistant, lost a strong linebacker and member of his locker room on Friday when ex-Vikings team captain Jordan Hicks announced his retirement.

Hicks, 33, was entering his 11th NFL season as Browns training camp began this week. He helped reshape the Vikings locker room as one of the first free-agent additions in 2022, when the team hired O’Connell and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Hicks started 31 games over two years in Minnesota.

“Football has given me more than I could have ever imagined,” Hicks wrote on his Instagram account. “Purpose, discipline, brotherhood, and a platform to impact others. But most importantly it showed me who I am outside the game. I leave this chapter with deep gratitude for every lesson, challenge, and victory. I’m proud of what I accomplished on the field, but even more proud of the man I’ve become because of it.”

Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.