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Justin Jefferson spills the beans on the return of T.J. Hockenson
Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings are excited about the return of tight end T.J. Hockenson but that likely won't happen on Sunday. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson spoke to the media and said that he wanted him back this week, but rather that they'll have him back soon.

T.J. Hockenson likely won't play Sunday

It's not much of a surprise that the Vikings likely won't have Hockenson on Sunday, especially after the comments head coach Kevin O'Connell made about potentially not playing him against the Detroit Lions because they play the following Thursday night against the Los Angeles Rams.

"I don't think so. I think we're just going to let T.J. get some good work in this week and see where he's at and got a lot of football left. So we want to make sure he's done everything from the standpoint of what we've asked him to do, from his rehab, he's in a great spot. I mean, he's moving around great, but he's got to get acclimated back into football a little bit. And we asked him to do a lot in our offense, and we want him to feel like he's working his way towards doing that, because we know there's a lot of football ahead. He's going to be a huge part of it that we have not had with us through these first five games or whatever."

The knee might be healthy but it's very important that Hockenson is mentally prepared to play. Being mentally ready to do all the things that you need to do is just as important as being physically able to do everything. 

Not having Hockenson isn't an ideal scenario but the Vikings have been a 5-0 team without him and having him for the rest of the season is more important than one singular week seven game.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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