EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Justin Jefferson might be weary of all the safeties shadowing his every route, determined not to let the Minnesota Vikings go deep, but he’s hardly angry.
The double and triple coverage he continually faces, after all, is a sign of immense respect for his game-breaking ability. The strategy also simply makes sense.
“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 visit Chicago on Sunday, they’re expecting the usual heavy dose of split-safety coverage designed to put a lid on the passing attack and force them to operate primarily underneath.
“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, later adding: “I don’t really feel like anyone else is getting played how I’m getting played.”
Jefferson nonetheless is second in the NFL in receiving yards (912) behind Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase, his former college teammate at LSU. Last week, Jefferson set yet another all-time record by passing Torry Holt for the most receiving yards over the first five seasons of a career. Holt logged 80 regular-season games and accumulated 6,784 yards for St. Louis. Jefferson has 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 fellow tight end Josh Oliver ruled out of the game on Sunday because of a sprained ankle, T.J. Hockenson is certain to have his heaviest workload since returning from knee surgery four weeks ago. He’s also certain that Jefferson will continue to see persistent double-teams.
“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 been forced to dig deeper into the vault of play designs and game plans to help keep quarterback Sam Darnold and the offense on track. O’Connell said after Minnesota’s 12-7 win at Jacksonville, when Darnold threw three interceptions to precipitate a safer strategy down the stretch, that he superseded his play-calling role with the wisdom of a head coach to help win that game.
“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.
Taking what the defense gives is usually the shrewdest strategy.
“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.”
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