Justin Jefferson has endured a career full of quarterback changes during his time with the Minnesota Vikings, but has managed to stay away from criticism in the media, and also achieve four Pro Bowl selections. Last season he suffered one of his more disappointing seasons in his career, with the Vikings continuing to try JJ McCarthy as their future star at QB. During a recent chat with Kay Adams, Jefferson explained how the inconsistency with his team's quarterback has affected him during his NFL career.
"It didn't really affect me in a negative way," Jefferson told Adams. "It affected me in really showing everybody the real person, the real teammate, the real leader that I truly am," Jefferson told Adams. More news: NFL Analyst Shockingly Predicts a Titans Playoff Run: ‘I Believe in Your QB’ Jefferson explained that a lot of people thought he should "badmouth" teammates and "voice his opinions more" regarding his situation with the Vikings.
How is that gonna help JJ, a new quarterback in this league? How is that gonna help him get better?" Jefferson said. "It's just all about keeping it in-house.
Obviously, people know that we're frustrated. Obviously, we know that this is not the season that we want to have, but the only thing that we could do is try to do better." Last year, Jefferson played in all 17 Vikings games and still had 1,048 receiving yards, but his two touchdowns and 61.5 receiving yards per game were career lows. Many blamed McCarthy as the team's QB1, and the Vikings addressed that for this season.
Jefferson said that amid all the criticism and outside noise about the Vikings last season, a positive was that they finished on a five-game winning streak, the best of any team in their division. Despite a 9-8 record, they failed to reach the postseason, something the Vikings and their fans are hoping to see this coming season. Other quarterbacks Jefferson has played with as Vikings teammates include Carson Wentz, Joshua Dobbs, Kirk Cousins, and Sam Darnold.
The latter led the Vikings to a strong 2024 season, but they lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round. Darnold then departed as a free agent to join the Seattle Seahawks and led them to a Super Bowl win. Jefferson has a new quarterback throwing to him for the 2026 campaign, as the Vikings signed former No. 1 pick Kyler Murray to a one-year contract after his release from the Arizona Cardinals.
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