Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson said Wednesday that he has mixed emotions about a slow statistical season for a team that has not lost. "It's definitely an in-between feeling," he said, as the Vikings sit at 6-0 as the NFL's only undefeated club.
Through Week 7, Jefferson is averaging 60.4 receiving yards per game, the lowest figure he has posted to open a season in seven years in the league. That mark is 32% below his previous weakest start, in 2025, when he averaged 88 yards. His 23 catches are also the fewest he has recorded over the first seven weeks of any season.
A sprained left ankle has played a part. Jefferson missed one full game and most of another, and the Vikings have already used their bye week. He pointed to those factors in explaining that he is not "too frustrated or just going to the higher-ups and asking for the ball." Even so, 71 NFL players have been targeted more often than Jefferson, who has 31 targets.
He said he would take wins over big numbers. "I definitely would love winning games over having that production," Jefferson said, noting that there were earlier years when he put up strong numbers without the team winning. He acknowledged the tension in wanting to show he is the league's best player through production while the team keeps winning.
"What we're doing right now [as a team] is working," Jefferson said. He added that the offense still has things to fix, but that overall the unit is coming together and doing what it needs to win.
The Vikings are adjusting to new quarterback Kyler Murray, and coach Kevin O'Connell has focused on making Murray comfortable in the offense. He is also working with what he considers the NFL's best defense and one of its top special teams units. The approach has leaned on the ground game: Minnesota has the league's fourth-highest rate of designed runs at 43.3% and the second-fewest dropbacks, with 198.
O'Connell addressed the dip in Jefferson's production directly. "In the past we were throwing the ball a thousand times," he said. He explained that when a team is among the leaders in early-down rushing attempts and is trying to control the game, the volume of throws can shrink. "But he's our best player," O'Connell said. "We've got to find a way to continue to activate him."
The challenge for the offense may grow soon. Minnesota now enters the toughest stretch of its schedule, beginning this week at the Detroit Lions. That game will be followed by matchups with the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers.
