![\"Justin](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/justin-jefferson-minnesota-vikings_784959.jpg\")
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(Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Minnesota Vikings<\/a> wideout Justin Jefferson had a challenging 2025 season, given that he barely crossed the 1,000-yard receiving mark and only recorded two touchdowns. <\/p>\n Despite the QB issues all season that impacted his stat line, Jefferson remained professional about the situation. Moreover, Vikings offensive tackle Brian O\u2019Neill noted that Jefferson has a down-to-earth personality that likely helped him with the challenge from last season. <\/p>\n Nonetheless, during an appearance on the May 7 edition of \u201cGreen Light with Chris Long,\u201d<\/a> O\u2019Neill shared how important the Vikings wideout is to their offense despite the player\u2019s down season by his standards last campaign. <\/p>\n \u201cHe does so much in the offense,\u201d O\u2019Neill said. \u201cHe plays X, Y, and Z, handles motions and, outside of the quarterback, probably has to know more than anybody else about where to be on every play, the motions, and the shifts. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no secret they\u2019re trying to scheme ways to get him the ball. Defenses focus on him every week, too. Despite all the responsibilities and all the different spots he lines up, he\u2019s never in the wrong place and never runs the wrong route.\u201d<\/p>\n Vikings\u2019 Brian O\u2019Neill Talks About Justin Jefferson\u2019s Mindset\u00a0<\/p>\n Furthermore, O\u2019Neill notes that one aspect of Jefferson\u2019s game that might be helping him succeed in his NFL<\/a> career is his mindset and his relish for being a pro. <\/p>\n \u201cI think he appreciates and enjoys the whole aspect of being in the NFL,\u201d O\u2019Neill added. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t take things too seriously. He\u2019s a baller who loves to go play football. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why guys gravitate toward him and love him because there\u2019s so much out there for a superstar like that, media-wise, and he just loves playing basketball on a little mini hoop in the locker room and playing ball. That\u2019s cool. It\u2019s refreshing. There\u2019s a youthful exuberance to him that\u2019s contagious, really.\u201d<\/p>\n J.J. McCarthy Gets Strong Words From NFL Insider<\/p>\n The Vikings know that they can\u2019t afford for Jefferson\u2019s production to be impacted by the QB play. As a result, Minnesota signed Kyler Murray after the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> cut ties with him this offseason and even re-signed Carson Wentz. <\/p>\n Minnesota now has a QB competition that features Murray and Wentz. However, Murray is likely the one challenging J.J. McCarthy for the starting job, and many expect the former Cardinals star to emerge as the starter.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter isn\u2019t willing to sell McCarthy short, as it appears the competition will be open. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not ready to write off J.J. yet,\u201c\u00a0Schefter said on a May 8 appearance on the \u201cPat McAfee Show.\u201c<\/a>\u00a0\u201c\u2026 There\u2019s a boatload of talent in Minnesota, and that doesn\u2019t even include a head coach who is obviously adept and proficient at getting these offensive plays in and having the offensive production that Kevin O\u2019Connell has. I don\u2019t know how you handicap it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot of people believe that Kyler is going to wind up as the starting quarterback, but I think J.J. McCarthy is going to give him a run still. I don\u2019t think the Vikings are ready or willing to give up on J.J. McCarthy just yet.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they\u2019ve got two good quarterbacks there. These are two high draft picks, so it will play out, but I think a lot of people believe Kyler is going to prevail and win the job. But again, I\u2019m not ready to give up on J.J. just yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/strong><\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images) Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson had a challenging 2025 season, given that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":785234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1318,1317,1315,1316,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-785233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-football","11":"tag-ncaafootball","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116547025159341122","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}