The rundown: Jefferson's message to JJ, K-balls and defensive 'identity'
Justin Jefferson was optimistic about JJ McCarthy's return on Sunday
By Matthew Coller
EAGAN — The Minnesota Vikings practiced on Thursday as they prepare for the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday. Here are the takeaways from TCO Performance Center…
Darrisaw DNP?
On Thursday, Christian Darrisaw did not practice. The Vikings had been designating that the left tackle was going to have planned rest but they did not list “rest” on the injury report. We will find out on Friday if he is ready to play against Detroit after only being able to play nine snaps against the Los Angeles Chargers last Thursday.
Brian O’Neill was also limited in practice.
The Vikings desperately need both of them on the field against Aidan Hutchinson. The Lions have been using him on the left and right side this year depending on the matchup, so if they are both out or if only half the tackle duo plays, then the superstar rusher will be in position for a big game.
Isaiah Rodgers was also limited (shoulder) and CJ Ham, Jeff Okudah and Josh Oliver were out. Andrew Van Ginkel practiced fully, as did Jonathan Greenard, who was limited on Wednesday.
Game planning for McCarthy
As the Vikings get ready to put McCarthy back under center, there is a debate about how much to put on the young QB’s plate. Will the Vikings give him the entire scheme at his disposal or try to simplify things for him due to his inexperience? And what did they learn from his first two games that they can apply to this week’s gameplan?
“We have a sample size from offseason and training camp and things that we feel good about him reading that play or throwing that play,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said. “But you also have to try to give him the best opportunity you can to have guys open. I mean, ultimately, I’ve said before: the best way you can help a quarterback is scheme of play where number one [receiver] is open.”
The reality is that the Vikings’ staff will have to figure out on the fly what McCarthy can execute at real NFL speed.
What we’ll be watching for is whether the first-year starter can get the offense rolling from an operational standpoint. Against Chicago and Atlanta, there were too many instances of making last-second checks as the play clock ran out. Can they get lined up and make adjustments in a timely fashion?
If the attempt to get the No. 1 receiver open involves too many complications, especially if the offensive line isn’t close to 100%, will they adapt on the fly to get the ball out of McCarthy’s hands quickly?
No matter where he’s throwing the ball, McCarthy talked about learning from Carson Wentz that he can throttle down some of his throws and lead receivers with anticipation rather than always letting it rip. Phillips talked about how the team has worked with McCarthy to get the feel for some of the key passes in O’Connell’s offense.
“JJ’s a talented thrower of the football and it’s a lot easier to rein a guy back a little bit when he’s got a strong arm than it is to try to create arm strength out of nowhere,” Phillips said. “You guys sometimes see the technique type drills where they’re throwing at the nets and accuracy and footwork and all that stuff. But then after that, they’re getting into actual concepts we have in the game like spot throwing and working, ‘hey, this is a ball that needs to be layered over a flat defender potentially or over a hook, hook defender.’”
“He’s got it in him. He’s done it. He’s done it before.”
Jefferson’s message to McCarthy
Over the last five-plus years, Justin Jefferson has sustained positive outlook regardless of what has happened with the Vikings franchise. In his first year, they went 7-9, largely due to brutal defensive play. In 2021, his head coach got fired and wouldn’t allow Jefferson to break a record in a meaningless Week 17 game.
In 2022, Jefferson’s quarterback checked down in the final moments of a playoff game rather than giving him a shot. In 2023, he suffered a hamstring injury and returned to Josh Dobbs, Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens again. In 2024, he had a brilliant season with a rocket-armed quarterback, who fell apart in the final two weeks and was let go in the offseason in favor of a “rookie,” who struggled to find him in the first two games and then got hurt. He continued to succeed as much as humanly possible with Carson Wentz until the wheels came off and now the team is turning back to JJ McCarthy.
While Jefferson has always been intensely competitive, he has remained positive despite all of the rockiness at the quarterback position.
On Thursday, he offered his message to McCarthy as he returns to action for the first time since Week 2.
“Just going through the plays, going through the motions, dialing up the connection and expanding the relationship that we have out there on the field, it’s been great,” Jefferson said. “I feel like he has the confidence to go out there and to do what we expect him to do. It’s just all about having that energy and just think about one play at a time, not thinking about the big play and making the best play of the game or being perfect throughout the game. It’s just all about just taking one play at a time, leaning on everybody in their offense to go to work and just lead us. That’s pretty much the main message to him.”
Even with the QB uncertainty, Jefferson has still caught 65% of passes thrown his way and averages 14.7 yards per reception.
Where McCarthy has been successful in the past is throwing in the intermediate areas of the field, which matches up with where Jefferson is at his best. This year on throws between 10-19 yards downfield, Jefferson has caught 16 of 21 targets for 279 yards. Those types of plays often come along with timing routes to the outside or in-breaking throws that may require tight windows. If Jefferson and McCarthy can connect on those types of passes, they should be able to thrive versus Detroit.
Detroit playing physical against Jefferson
One thing to watch with the Lions is the physical battle between Jefferson and the corners. He has often destroyed Detroit but the two times that he has struggled to put up big numbers have come when the Lions have played him super physically.
In Week 18, Jefferson caught just three of nine targets for 54 yards and had two drops (he only had six in all of 2024). This offseason, he had Detroit in mind as he was preparing for 2025.
“Working in the weight room getting stronger, knowing that I’m going to get those double teams and knowing I’m going to get that cover-2 man where they try to put hands on it and slow the route process down,” Jefferson said. “So working on my releases, working on just being stronger throughout the route.”
Jefferson also noted that the Lions are one of the most penalized teams in the league.
The Vikings’ star receiver has a lot of familiarity with the Lions’ defense, having played against cornerback Amik Robertson (who gave him problems in Week 18) since high school. His brother also played with defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard at LSU.
“We always talk before and after the game, so it definitely would be great to see how he’ll cover me,” Jefferson said. “Especially with the past talks, he’s been talking about how [the Lions have been] covering me throughout the game. So it’s going to be fun. I love going against these type of matchups and especially their division team. So the juices will be high.”
Vikings defense vs. run
K-balls are different
After Matt Daniels’ press conference on Thursday, those in attendance were treated to some show-and-tell.
The special teams coordinator brought two footballs into the press room to demonstrate the difference between a ball used by the kickers and the ball used by the quarterback.
The reason? To explain why Will Reichard’s 54-yard attempt with time running out in the first half ended up landing short. Because when the Vikings ran the “mayday” drill to run the kicking team on the field, they were not able to get a “K-Ball” on the field because the clock didn’t stop. So Reichard kicked a regular QB ball.
The K-Ball felt much like a rugby ball. It was much more round and had a larger sweet spot. It also had the laces smoothed out and the ball was very slick. The QB ball had vastly better grip and was shaped less like an egg.
This year the NFL implemented a rule that allowed the kickers to work with the footballs throughout the week. That appears to have impacted the accuracy and distance. It might also be impacting the ability of teams to run fakes because the ball is virtually impossible to throw.
The league appears to like the extra scoring provided by the long kicks, so it would be surprising if they changed the rules back.
Myles Price is getting robbed
The Vikings have found an impressive returner in Myles Price but on numerous occasions this year his best returns have been taken away. Daniels said that he’s had five returns of 40+ yards that have been taken back by flags.
Daniels explained that he breaks down penalties into two categories: Combative and non-combative. The Vikings have been committing the combative type, where they hang on too long to a defense while trying to create a lane for the runner. It seemed that Daniels wasn’t particularly in agreement with some of the calls.
“We submit those weekend and week out and they’ll come back and tell y ‘all, ‘well, that wasn’t a penalty,’ but it still gets called and it’s getting tallied on it,” he said. “Guys are straining like crazy, fighting like heck for that inch. We’re going to continue to fight our tails off and I just got to coach it better.”
Despite the issues with flags, the Vikings have still been an effective return team, ranking 15th in average yards per return. Daniels said that’s because of Price’s unique ability to run through tacklers.
“Rarely is this guy getting knocked backwards,” Daniels said. “He’s breaking arm tackles. He’s finding a way to fall forward. If you look at really kind of throughout all the returns he’s really had, he’s finding a way to really break the first tackle.”
Daniels has clearly trusted Price when it comes to the punt returning aspect. Last year the Vikings were almost exclusively a fair-catch team but this year they have the second most returns in the NFL.
“That’s because of that aggressive mindset that Myles does have, but also the trust that he has and the [blockers] on the outside to be able to cover up the gunners as well,” Daniels said. “So he continues to make great decisions back there, which is another asset that you love to have from your returner, just in terms of making great decisions back there on when to return it.”
Daniels explained that he created a drill for Price to practice looking at the tacklers while also focusing on catching the ball. The ST coordinator will stand 15 yards away and hold up his fingers with a 1, 2 or 3 and Price will have to yell out how many fingers he’s holding up while tracking the ball. It seems to be working and the Vikings clearly have their returner going forward. But don’t try that drill at home, folks.
Defensive identity
The Vikings’ defense has struggled mightily over the last two weeks against Philadelphia and Los Angeles.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores talked on Thursday, acknowledging a lot of the true “coach speak” things that they have to do better. But one particular quote stood out:
“We’ve got to find what’s the best style of play for this year’s group,” Flores said. “And in some instances, there’s been moments where it’s like, ‘OK, we found it.’ And then some others, there’s certainly some improvements we need to make.”
It feels like the perfect encapsulation of the defense that they still haven’t figured out who they are through seven games.
Not only has health been an issue as the Vikings have been largely without their two most dynamic pieces Andrew Van Ginkel and Harrison Smith for large portions of the season. But they also overhauled major pieces of the unit along the defensive line and secondary, replacing starters at two D-tackle positions, two cornerback positions and safety. There was no time for an adjustment period in a season with high expectations.
The Lions will be a huge test to see if the defense can begin finding itself in the second half of the season.
My hope is JJ stays healthy for they year so we can get an idea of what we have.