Justin Jefferson wants to turn the clock back to 2022, when he was piling up a league-leading 1,809 yards and making breathtaking grabs, like the famous one-hander in Buffalo, en route to being named Offensive Player of the Year.
Jefferson said Thursday that he needs to get back into "savage mode" if the 4-5 Vikings are to dig themselves out of the NFC North cellar.
"Mentally, just wanting to get back into that mode," Jefferson said, via the Minnesota Star-Tribune. "I like to say savage mode. ... Just going out there and just killing it and not worrying about the plays, not worrying about anything else I can't control. Doing everything I can control and making the most of my opportunities. I felt like I was on a different level. Just try to work back into that."
Jefferson is on pace for a host of career lows. He's averaging 76.2 yards per game this season (current career-low is 87.5 YPG in 2020 rookie season), and his 60.7 catch percentage is also a personal worst. The two receiving touchdowns are his worst through nine games.
The wideout has yet to post a 100-yard game on U.S. soil, with both his century-mark outings coming overseas -- Dublin and London.
The stats get worse with J.J. McCarthy under center. Jefferson is averaging 4.3 catches per game and 52.3 receiving yards in the second-year QB's starts, per NFL Research.
In the Week 10 loss to Baltimore, Jefferson's frustration was evident. He caught four of 12 targets for 37 yards. He was targeted on two of McCarthy's interceptions, including one in which he slipped, and couldn't hang onto a potential touchdown on one of the young QB's better passes.
Jefferson insisted his stats aren't the cause of his frustration. It's the losing that irks him.
"I want to win," Jefferson said. "I'm not really mad at the situation that I'm in or I'm not mad at the players that we have or the plays that's being called. Of course, I'm mad after an interception. You want me to be happy and go chase them down? That's not really something that I want to happen.
"Of course, the outcome of the game is us losing, and I was the one that's getting thrown that ball and it is getting picked off. So, a lot of emotion goes towards that. But at the end of the day, I want to win, and I'm an ultra-competitor, and a lot of people that don't play this game and don't play sports don't understand the competitive side of it. So yeah, I want to win, and emotionally, things get heated sometimes, and things weren't going our way at that moment. So, just wanting a better outcome. And of course, the offense that we have, I feel like we should be playing better than what we are."
Jefferson made it clear his frustration isn't with McCarthy, whom he called a "great quarterback" and a "great kid."
With Jefferson's production and the Vikings winning going hand-in-hand, McCarthy and his QB need to fill the perceived chemistry gap in a hurry if the season is to be salvaged.
