Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell said Friday that his regulars will start this weekend's game vs. the Bears but that there's a plan to potentially pull them early to get backups some reps, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert. The Vikings can't get the NFC's #1 seed and can only climb from #3 to #2 with a 49ers loss to the Cardinals. QB Kirk Cousins, RB Dalvin Cook, WRs Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen and TE T.J. Hockenson are candidates to leave Sunday's game early.
Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell said Monday that he won't sit his starters in Sunday's regular-season finale vs. the Bears -- although he added that he could make "more subtle" adjustments to playing time. The Vikings can't get the NFC's #1 seed but are still alive for the #2 seed with a win plus a loss by the 49ers. Minnesota kicks off at 1 pm ET, while 49ers-Cardinals doesn't start until 4:25 pm ET, so there won't be any scoreboard watching going on. It's possible that the Vikings pull guys like QB Kirk Cousins, RB Dalvin Cook, WR Justin Jefferson and TE T.J. Hockenson if they build a big lead, but we're currently projecting full playing time for all of them.
Vikings QB Kirk Cousins threw for just 205 yards in Sunday's loss to the Packers, with 1 TD and 3 INTs. The lone TD went to WR Jalen Nailor from 47 yards out, helping him lead the team with 89 yards on 3 catches. TE T.J. Hockenson led the team with 12 targets, catching 7 for 59 yards. WR K.J. Osborn added a TD catch, but it came from QB Nick Mullens in garbage time. WR Justin Jefferson managed just 1 reception for 15 yards among 5 looks. Minnesota closes out the regular season with an upside matchup at Chicago.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson caught 12 balls for 133 yards and a TD in Saturday's win over the Giants. It was his 3rd straight game with more than 120 yards and his 10th game of 100+ this season. Jefferson also passed the franchise records for receptions and receiving yards in a season. He leads the league in receiving yards for the season by more than 200, with #2 Tyreek Hill yet to play. WR Adam Thielen caught just 1 of 5 targets for 6 yards against the Giants. WR K.J. Osborn followed his big Week 15 with 3 catches for 17 yards among 4 targets.
Vikings WR K.J. Osborn tied WR Justin Jefferson for the team target lead (16) in Saturday's come-from-behind OT win over the Colts. Osborn caught 10 balls for a team-high 157 yards and scored. Jefferson returned from an injury check (chest) to catch 12 passes for 123 yards and a TD. WR Adam Thielen managed just 3 receptions on 4 targets for 41 yards and a TD. TE T.J. Hockenson added 3-33 receiving on 9 looks.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson caught 11 balls for a career-high 223 yards in Sunday's loss to the Lions. He accounted for 52.5% of QB Kirk Cousins' 425 passing yards for the game. It was his 8th game this year with more than 100 yards and 3rd straight with at least 11 targets.
The Jets limited Vikings WR Justin Jefferson to 45 yards on 7 catches among 11 targets in Sunday's Minnesota win. Jefferson did find the end zone from 10 yards out in the middle of the 4th quarter to save what would have been a disappointing fantasy day by his standards otherwise. A Week 14 clash with the Lions presents an opportunity for Jefferson to avenge his worst outing of the year: 3 catches for 14 yards in Week 3. TE T.J. Hockenson and WR Adam Thielen tied for 2nd in targets against the Jets with 6 apiece. Hockenson caught 4 for 33 yards. Thielen caught 2 balls for 27 yards.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson amassed 139 yards and a TD on 9 catches in Thursday night's win over the Patriots. WR Adam Thielen trailed him by just 1 target and matched Jefferson's 9 catches, tallying 61 yards and a TD. TE T.J. Hockenson snagged the other of Kirk Cousins' 3 scoring tosses, totaling a 5-43-1 receiving line among 6 targets. The Minnesota passing game gets a tougher draw against the Jets in Week 13.
Vikings QB Kirk Cousins managed only 12-of-23 passing for 105 yards in Sunday's beatdown at the hands of the Cowboys. He took 7 sacks and lost a fumble in the 40-3 defeat, giving way to Nick Mullens for late mop-up duty. TE T.J. Hockenson led Minnesota pass-catchers with just 5 catches and 34 yards. WR Justin Jefferson checked in just behind with a 3-33 line on 5 targets. WRs Adam Thielen and K.J. Osborn were the only other Vikings to catch more than 1 pass. (They each caught 2.) Minnesota gets challenging matchups the next 2 weeks as well, against the Patriots and Jets. The 1st of those comes on Thanksgiving night.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson is dealing with a "mild" case of turf toe, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Jefferson was limited in practice this week and "will need to be managed going forward," per Pelissero. But the injury "isn't expected to impact the Vikings' superstar receiver much" in today's game vs. the Cowboys. Turf toe can be a debilitating injury, so this is certainly worth keeping a close eye on. But Jefferson should stay glued into Week 11 fantasy lineups.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson (toe) is not listed on the final Week 11 injury report. He was limited in the first 2 practices of the week but was a full-go on Friday. Jefferson should be ready for his usual role vs. the Cowboys this weekend.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson (toe) remained limited in Thursday's practice. We've still heard no concern about his availability for this weekend's game vs. the Cowboys, but Jefferson's status is worth checking back on tomorrow.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson (toe) was limited in Wednesday's practice. We don't have any other information on the toe issue, but we'd have likely heard something by now if it was serious. Jefferson can stay penciled into Week 11 fantasy lineups. We'll get another update on his status tomorrow.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson went off in Week 10, parlaying 16 targets into 10 grabs, 193 yards and 1 score. He nearly added a 2nd score but was stopped just shy of the goal line late in the 4th. Kirk Cousins really let loose in this one, allowing Jefferson to make some excellent contested catches against a thin Buffalo defense. The Pro Bowl WR has now hit 98 yards in 6 straight. He’s the #1 WR rest-of-way.
New Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson led the team with 9 receptions Sunday in his 1st game since the trade. He caught all 9 of his targets (2nd on the team) for 70 yards. Only WR Justin Jefferson drew more looks, catching 7 of 13 for 115 yards and a TD. WR Adam Thielen garnered 7 targets and tallied 3 receptions for 67 yards. QB Kirk Cousins totaled 265 yards on a lackluster 22-of-40 (55%) passing. Minnesota heads to Buffalo next Sunday for 1 of the league's toughest passing matchups.
The Lions are trading TE T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings, along with a 2023 4th-round pick and a 2024 conditional 4th-round pick, in exchange for a 2023 2nd-round pick and 2024 3rd-round pick, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports. It's surprising for a few reasons, most notably because it's an intra-division trade and involves a former 1st-round pick still on his rookie deal. Hockenson counts just $6.5 million against this year's salary cap and has a $9.3 million 5th-year option for 2023. He's been slightly underwhelming through 3+ NFL seasons considering he was the 8th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. But Hockenson's 44.0 receiving yards per game since 2019 rank 10th among TEs. He's averaged a career-best 56.4 yards per game so far this year and ranks 7th among 31 qualifying TEs in Pro Football Focus' 2022 receiving grades. Minnesota is an OK spot for Hockenson's rest-of-season fantasy value. He'll obviously be behind WR Justin Jefferson in the pecking order but could challenge WR Adam Thielen for the #2 spot. And the Vikings have been a pass-leaning offense this year, ranking 7th at 38.0 pass attempts per game. (The Lions rank 15th at 35.7.). Hockenson will face negative fantasy-scoring matchups the next 2 weeks vs. Washington and Buffalo, but the schedule looks nice after that. Detroit, meanwhile, is left with TEs Brock Wright and James Mitchell. Wright is the preferred add but is probably only worth a look in TE-premium leagues like the FFPC. RB D'Andre Swift and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown should pick up more targets with Hockenson gone.
Vikings TE Irv Smith suffered a high-ankle sprain in Sunday's win over the Cardinals, insider Chris Tomasson reports. Smith is getting an MRI on Monday to get a better look at the damage, but he figures to miss multiple games. He's droppable in standard-sized fantasy leagues. Smith's absence leaves lead TE duties to Johnny Mundt, who owns just 22 career catches, with 12 of them coming this season. We should see more volume funneled to WRs Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen and K.J. Osborn with Smith out.
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