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Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff Writer
EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings gave receiver Justin Jefferson a day off from practice Wednesday, timed to coincide with the team’s scheduled off day on Thursday.
When he returned to the field Friday, Jefferson made clear that he and the Vikings are taking significant steps to avoid reinjuring a right hamstring that he tore last season, costing him seven games.
“I’m so scared for it to happen again that I’ve been overly cautious about it,” Jefferson said, “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. I’ve definitely been working on my hamstrings a little bit more, making sure that I’m injury proof.”
Jefferson, who turned 25 earlier this summer, had in previous years typically participated in nearly every first-team rep of training camp and played in 97 of the Vikings’ regular-season snaps last season before suffering the injury in Week 5.
Like most teams, the Vikings track exertion data during practices and use it to gauge whether a player is nearing the physical stress levels that can contribute to an injury. There is no evidence that Jefferson has so much as tweaked the hamstring or encountered any other health issues this summer and coach Kevin O’Connell even stopped short of saying that the Vikings have Jefferson on a maintenance plan.
Jefferson learned “a lot about his body” during last season’s ordeal, O’Connell said, and the Vikings are trying to avoid pushing him into the danger zone this summer.
“We want to make sure his training camp progression is the right kind of progression coming off a first time for him having the type of injury he had.
“It’s more a matter of the dialogue that he has with [vice president of player health and performance Tyler Williams] and myself and making sure that our plan for him as we progress forward through the month of August has him, in his prime, optimal, physical football shape and ready to roll while also still tactically getting him prepared.”
Eventually, Jefferson said, his fear of re-injury will subside.
“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.”