Justin Jefferson may be tired of facing double and triple coverage on every route, with defenses trying to prevent the Minnesota Vikings from going deep, but he’s not upset about it.
The constant extra attention he gets is a sign of respect for his ability to make big plays. It’s also a strategy that makes sense for opposing teams.
“I would do the same,” Jefferson said. “It’s either let everybody else go off or let Justin go off. I’m going to let everybody else go off. That would be my game plan.”
When the Vikings play in Chicago on Sunday, they expect to face the usual heavy coverage, which is meant to limit their passing attack and force them to focus more on short plays.
“We see that every week: Teams just have different tendencies on film, and then when we go out on the field they play us totally different,” Jefferson said, adding: “I don’t really feel like anyone else is getting played how I’m getting played.”
Jefferson is still second in the NFL in receiving yards (912), trailing only Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase, his former college teammate at LSU. Last week, he set another record, passing Torry Holt for the most receiving yards in the first five seasons of a career. Holt had 6,784 yards in 80 games, while Jefferson reached 6,811 yards in just 70 games.
“I want to go up against those single coverages. I want to go have my opportunities to catch a deep pass downfield, just one-on-one coverage, like a lot of these other receivers get,” Jefferson said. “It’s definitely difficult going up against an extra person or an extra two people, but it is what it is and the concepts that we’re drawing up and the ways that we’re trying to get me open, it definitely helps.”
With tight end Josh Oliver ruled out of Sunday’s game due to a sprained ankle, T.J. Hockenson is expected to have a bigger role, especially since he’s been recovering from knee surgery. He knows that Jefferson will continue to face double-teams, but he believes it’s up to the rest of the team to make plays to help loosen the defense’s focus on Jefferson.
“It puts it on us to make some plays and do some things to get them out of that,” Hockenson said.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell has had to be more creative with his play-calling to keep quarterback Sam Darnold and the offense moving forward.
After Minnesota’s 12-7 win over Jacksonville, where Darnold threw three interceptions and the team adjusted its strategy, O’Connell said he relied more on his head coach experience than just trying to score points.
“Not just the egomaniac of wanting to score points and constantly show everybody how smart we are. There was a mode that I think you have to go into sometimes to ensure a victory,” O’Connell said on his weekly show on KFAN radio.
O’Connell explained that sometimes the smartest strategy is to take what the defense gives.
“You’ve got to really implement some new things and some things that maybe you didn’t come across during your early coaching years whether as a coordinator or position coach or even when you’re responsible for a small area of the game plan as a younger coach,” O’Connell said. “You really have to kind of look outside the lens of always what you see on tape.”
