Justin Jefferson’s return to the Minnesota Vikings’ offense will have to wait at least one more week.
On Saturday, the Vikings officially ruled Jefferson out of Sunday night’s game against the Denver Broncos. The team also ruled out offensive lineman Chris Reed who, like Jefferson, is also within his window to return to the active roster.
The Vikings opened Jefferson’s window for a return to the active roster on 8 November, and from that point had 21 days to decide whether or not to return him to the active roster. That would put the absolute last date that the Vikings could bring Jefferson back to 29 November, two days after their Monday Night Football contest against the Chicago Bears. With that in mind, there’s a decent chance that we won’t see Jefferson until the team comes out of their bye week and travels to face the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 14.
The team made several other moves on Saturday, including bringing quarterback Nick Mullens back to the 53-man roster, completing his return from injured reserve. Mullens went on IR the same day that Jefferson did with a back injury and is now, officially, back on the squad. He will serve as the backup to Joshua Dobbs tomorrow night in Denver.
The team also used standard practice squad elevations to bring linebacker Anthony Barr and cornerback Joejuan Williams to the active roster for Sunday night. Williams will provide some reinforcements for the injured Akayleb Evans, who was ruled out of Sunday’s game with a calf injury. Barr will be playing his first game in purple since the 2021 regular season finale after having been signed to the practice squad earlier this week.
That should be all of the moves the team will be making ahead of Sunday’s game at Mile High. If there’s any other breaking news we’ll bring it to you as quickly as we’re able
