Justin Jefferson Faces Hardest Season with the Vikings

EAGAN, Minn. — Together with his workforce mired in a 4-8 report, Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson is going through one more 12 months with out making a playoff run.

That realization sunk in throughout Sunday’s 26-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, as Jefferson spent a part of the fourth quarter sitting despondently on a water cooler after which skipping his postgame information convention for the primary time in his profession.

Talking Thursday to native reporters, Jefferson stated that “the frustration and the feelings positively had been excessive after the sport,” however he stopped nicely in need of indicating that he’s involved in regards to the workforce’s long-term path. Amid six begins from second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy and one from rookie Max Brosmer, Jefferson is ready to complete his sixth season with no playoff win. However he demurred Thursday when requested whether or not he’s fearful that the Vikings are losing the prime of his profession.

“No, I would not say wasted,” Jefferson stated. “Clearly it is a tough season. It is most likely one of the crucial tough seasons simply off of the circumstances, having a younger quarterback, having a special workforce, having younger gamers on the workforce. So it is simply a type of years. Not yearly goes to be a top-tier 12 months for me. It is actually part of the sport, so it is simply all on me to anticipate rather a lot from these guys and to enhance on something that we have to enhance on as an offense.”

Jefferson entered the season with a mean of 96.5 receiving yards per recreation in his profession, the very best in NFL historical past amongst certified gamers. However in his seven video games with McCarthy and Brosmer, he has averaged 46 yards. General this season, he ranks No. 12 within the NFL in receptions (60) and receiving yards (799), whereas catching solely two touchdowns. He’ll want 601 receiving yards through the ultimate 5 video games to keep away from setting a profession low for a full season’s play.

“It’s important to have a variety of endurance,” Jefferson stated. “I imply, we’re 4-8. That is positively a tough factor to undergo. It is positively not thrilling to lose video games, and particularly in entrance of our followers at residence. These are positively issues that I hate doing. I all the time was a child that was a competitor on the highest degree. I hated shedding, hated shedding board video games. These are all issues that I hated shedding. So after all I hate being on this scenario and shedding these video games, however there’re going to be higher instances and there is going to be a time the place folks reduce on that TV they usually’re speaking all about us they usually jumped on our bandwagon.”

Earlier this week, coach Kevin O’Connell stated the workforce is nicely conscious that it isn’t performing to Jefferson’s commonplace.

“He clearly needs to win soccer video games,” O’Connell stated. “He is as aggressive as anyone I’ve ever been round, and he is a frontrunner on our workforce. No person is accepting any of the outcomes that we’re going through proper now, whatever the purpose, whatever the present state of the place we’re at, no person’s accepting that. And Justin definitely won’t ever be requested to simply accept that. However he all the time … exhibits up with power, and he’ll have an effect on our group at a very excessive degree. And we have got to seek out methods to permit gamers identical to Justin and Jordan [Addison] and a few of our different gamers to have an opportunity to influence the sport. After which, after they get these possibilities, we all know that good issues will occur.

“But it surely takes rather more than simply calling performs for them or having sequences within the video games the place they’ll have a excessive degree of influence, as a result of this recreation requires 10 different guys to function at a typical to permit that to occur. And that is what we have got to attempt to have occur. And Justin performs an enormous position in that as one among our captains.”