Vikings Player A.J. Jefferson -- CHARGED WITH STRANGLING GF ... 'I Couldn't Breath'

Minnesota Vikings cornerback A.J. Jefferson has been charged with felony strangulation -- after allegedly grabbing his GF by the neck and throwing her around a bedroom earlier this week ... TMZ Sports has learned.

According to the Eden Prairie Police Department in MN ... the accuser told cops she and A.J. got into an argument on November 25 after a night on the town. She says things got so bad, he went to a neighbor's home and she went to sleep in the guest room of their home.

The GF claims A.J. returned to their home and confronted her about ignoring his text messages -- and that's when things got violent.

The GF told police A.J. "grabbed her neck and she could not breath." He then "picked her up by the neck" and threw her off the bed and onto the floor.

She claims she didn't fight back because she was having a hard time breathing and he's a lot bigger than her.

Cops say the GF went to a police station after the incident with red marks on both sides of her neck -- and that's why officials decided to charge Jefferson with a crime.