Vikings WR Justin Jefferson leaves game vs. Buccaneers early with ankle injury

The Minnesota Vikings lost star wide receiver Justin Jefferson after their opening drive on Sunday afternoon in Florida.

Jefferson went down with an ankle injury early in their matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite him appearing to get off to a very normal start at Raymond James Stadium. He caught a deep 22-yard pass from Kyler Murray on the Vikings ' first play of the game, and later caught a 10-yard screen pass to set up an early 54-yard field goal from Will Reichard .

But that was it for Jefferson. He didn't make it back onto the field on the next Vikings drive, and instead went into the blue medical tent on the sideline for quite some time. The Vikings quickly said that he was dealing with an ankle injury, and was questionable to return.

A closer look revealed Jefferson's left ankle awkwardly being rolled up on as he was tackled on that second reception.

Specifics of the injury are not yet known.

Jefferson was spotted back on the Vikings' sideline later in the first half walking around, but he didn't enter the game again. He later walked to the locker room.

Eventually, the Vikings ruled him out for good early in the third quarter.

Jefferson entered Sunday with 147 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns so far this season, his seventh in the league. The 26-year-old had 1,048 yards last season, which was actually a career low, despite it being his sixth straight campaign with at least 1,000 receiving yards.

The Vikings are a perfect 2-0 so far this season. They rallied past the Green Bay Packers in their season-opener and then beat the Chicago Bears in a sloppy, rainy 9-3 battle last week at Soldier Field.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.