Status of a Vikings Receiver Remains Murky
The Minnesota Vikings started training camp with the wide receiver group viewed as one of the team’s strengths, but suddenly, the wind has changed a little. Jordan Addison earned a three-game suspension to start the year following his “wet and reckless” charge, Justin Jefferson missed 25 days with a hamstring injury, and Jalen Nailor suffered a hand injury. The latter issue could turn into a serious problem.
Status of a Vikings Receiver Remains Murky
At Monday’s presser, head coach Kevin O’Connell proudly announced Jefferson’s return and the ramp-up period with three weeks to go until the season opener in Chicago.
Well, those three weeks could be a close call for Nailor, who O’Connell declared “week-to-week” in a strange statement that he tried to keep as vague as possible. Nailor left Thursday’s joint practice with what O’Connell would call a “jammed hand” a couple of hours later. That turned into a potential concern on Saturday after the preseason game, when the coach once again spoke to the media and indicated that the club was still unsure about the injury.
He referred to swelling. Usually, swelling doesn’t delay the diagnosis for days, but it may delay a potential surgery.
Fast forward another two days, and O’Connell said Monday, “We’re more than likely gonna hold him out for now. He’s kind of figuring out what the best plan of action for return to play will be, but [we] do feel good about where we’re at with him.”
All of that indicates that there are various options available.
“Hopefully, you know, I would consider it week-to-week at this point, knowing we’ve got three weeks out from that opener that we can ramp him back up. But the good thing is, he’ll be able to stay in great shape and keep his conditioning and game shape that he worked hard to get into. He’ll be able to maintain that.”
One potential option could be surgery, which certainly fits the description of Nailor figuring out the best action from now on. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert tried to get O’Connell to say that by asking if “he’s trying to decide whether to have surgery on it?”
O’Connell didn’t reveal much: “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It means he’s working through it.” He then added that he doesn’t need to announce injury details until September.
Long story short, Nailor won’t practice in the near future and might be out for quite some time. Suddenly, the Vikings are alarmingly thin at receiver, which is especially problematic considering J.J. McCarthy will make his first career start in Week 1, and it might not be ideal to be forced to start Lucky Jackson, Jeshaun Jones, or Tai Felton at wideout.
It’s realistic that, in addition to Addison, the Vikings will be without Nailor and Rondale Moore. The latter had to be placed on IR with a significant knee injury. Those three looked like the second through fourth players on the depth chart just two weeks ago.
Adding someone from the waiver wire should be a priority for the Vikings. Neither Felton nor Jones nor Jackson has caught a pass in the National Football League. The biggest name in free agency is Amari Cooper, who had 1,250 yards in 2023. His production dropped off last year after a trade to Buffalo.
Nailor struggled with injuries in college and missed most of 2023 with various issues. Last year, he finally experienced his breakout campaign and eclipsed 400 receiving yards and had six touchdowns as the third wideout in the building next to Jefferson and Addison.
The clock is ticking for the Vikings, but also for the 26-year-old, who is in the final year of his rookie contract and needs a strong season to have a market in March.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.