Vikings' Justin Jefferson says he won't play until he's 100% - ESPN

EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings and All-Pro receiver Justin Jefferson are on the same page: Although his window for returning to practice opened this week, Jefferson won't play in a game until his injured right hamstring is fully healed.

«The hamstring is a difficult injury just because it lingers and it comes back from time to time if you don't put the right treatment into it,» Jefferson said Thursday, his first public comments since suffering the injury Oct. 8.

«The guys and the rest of the coaching staff in this building know my worth on the field and they want me at 100 percent, as I do as well. I don't want to go out there at 80 or 90 percent and have the chance of hurting it again. It's just day-to-day, and when that time comes, I'll definitely be ready to step out there.»

Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell has expressed similar sentiments throughout the initial stages of Jefferson's recovery, during which the team has won four consecutive games to pull into the NFC playoff race. O'Connell said this week that it would be «a little aggressive» to plan on Jefferson returning for Sunday's game against the Saints, pushing his earliest possible return to Nov. 19 at the Broncos. The deadline for the Vikings to add him to their active roster is Dec. 6, which is during their bye week.

Jefferson, however, said it is a «no-brainer» that he will return as soon as he is ready, no matter what position the Vikings are in at that point. Since his injury, the Vikings have lost their top three quarterbacks — Kirk Cousins, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall — to injury. Of Jefferson's 360 career catches, 354 have been thrown by Cousins.

Jefferson also is continuing under the terms of his rookie contract after he and the Vikings failed to reach