Is Justin Jefferson's hamstring injury going to require long-term maintenance?

Vikings insider Ben Goessling suspects the Vikings will proceed with caution and closely monitor Justin Jefferson hamstring throughout the season.

Nov 24, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears defensive back Jonathan Owens (36) is called for pass interference as he intercepts a pass intended for Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) during the second quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images | Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Justin Jefferson is expected to be full go for the season opener Monday night in Chicago, but the hamstring strain he suffered during the second practice of training camp is an injury that insider Ben Goessling thinks the Minnesota Vikings will be monitoring closely throughout the season.

"I think this is going to be a long-term maintenance thing. He's had enough hamstring stuff at this point that I would not be surprised — he practices hard and he does not like to miss practices — I wonder if they will mitigate any of that. If there are weeks coming up where you see that he was limited in a practice and he shows up (on the injury report) with a hamstring, I don't know that that will mean that there's anything new," Goessling said Tuesday during an appearance on KFAN-FM 100.3.

"I don't know that that's going to happen. Just kind of putting pieces together, it wouldn't shock me if there are weeks where they say, 'Hey, we gotta pull this back' just a little for maintenance perspective because you don't want those things to become regular issues.

"We're going to see him continue to get stretched out, I imagine," Goessling continued. "There will be a lot of practices where during the brief open period for the media it'll be, 'OK, where is he?' — and he's inside getting stretched out or he may be outside in the side tent doing those things. I would expect this is something they continue to keep a pretty close eye on because hamstrings seem like they are a consistent enough issue for him at this point that I think they're going to treat it with quite a bit of attention."

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Jefferson missed seven games during the 2023 season with a strained hamstring. At the time, Jefferson noted that it was the first injury of this life to knock him out of action for a long stretch.

The hamstring injury he sustained in late July kept him off the practice field for about three weeks, and he's been increasing his workload ever since, though he did not participate in any preseason games, nor the two joint practices in mid-August against the New England Patriots. The Sept. 8 opener at Soldier Field will be his first game action since the Vikings were knocked out of the playoffs last January by the Los Angeles Rams.

One thing to keep an eye on will be Soldier Field's sod, which is being laid this week after five back-to-back concerts were held at the stadium over the weekend. Last year, before the Bears hosted the Bengals in a preseason game following concerts, the grass surface was heavily criticized. For Jefferson's sake, solid footing will be extremely important every time he takes the field — but especially in Week 1 and a recent hamstring injury.