Justin Jefferson missed seven games last season with a torn right hamstring. The Vikings have been deliberate about his work in training camp this summer.
He had a day off Wednesday followed by a team off day Thursday before practicing Friday.
“I’m so scared for it to happen again that I’ve been overly cautious about it, just trying to take care of my body in the right way, just trying to find new things that I can implement in my day-to-day life that can better help me throughout the season,” Jefferson said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “I’ve definitely been working on my hamstrings a little bit more, making sure that I’m injury-proof.”
In his first three seasons, Jefferson rarely took a rep off in training camp or practice, missed only one game and played more than 80 percent of the snaps each of those seasons.
Jefferson said he learned a lot about his body last season, and now he and the Vikings are working hard to prevent a re-injury of the soft tissue. Vice president of player health and performance Tyler Williams put together a plan for Jefferson for this summer.
Jefferson is thinking about his hamstring now, but he doesn’t expect that to last long.
“I’ll get to the point where I feel like I’m not going to think of it again,” he said, “just because I feel like I’m going to push it to where it’s way strong enough for it not to happen again. It’s all about having the confidence in it and I can go out there and play freely.”