Justin Jefferson News: Avoids injury report

Jefferson (hamstring) wasn't listed on the Vikings' initial Week 1 injury report Thursday.

Jefferson suffered a mild left hamstring strain in practice July 24, and while he was able to begin working out on the side with team trainers within one week, he didn't return to the practice field until Aug. 18. The Vikings kept him out of all three of their preseason games with an eye toward him being healthy Week 1. He more or less confirmed as much Thursday, telling Ben Goessling of The Minnesota Star Tribune that his hamstring feels great entering the season. "Missing the whole training camp and just staying in that training room definitely gets [to be] dark days, being by yourself and competing with yourself, but you got to think about the ending result: having a healthy body, having a strong body to maintain a full season," Jefferson said. He thus is poised to serve as the Vikings' top target for second-year pro and first-year starting QB J.J. McCarthy on Monday in Chicago and beyond.