Justin Jefferson Reveals a New Goal for 2023
Josh Frey
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As the 2023 season approached, there was a ton of buzz surrounding Vikings WR Justin Jefferson and one number: 2000.
After leading the league in both receptions and receiving yards during the 2022 season, many believed that the Vikings star had a chance to become the first player in NFL history to record 2000 receiving yards in a single season.
Five weeks into the season, those hopes came crashing down as Jefferson suffered a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve. Eight weeks later, though, the Vikings receiver is set to make his return, and he has a new goal in mind for the rest of the season.
Justin Jefferson Reveals a New Goal for 2023
That goal is 1000 yards receiving. If achieved, Jefferson would become just the fifth player in NFL history to do so in each of their first four seasons, joining Randy Moss (1998-2001), A.J. Green (2011-14), Mike Evans (2014-17), and Michael Thomas (2016-19), per Stathead.
Jefferson spoke of his revised goal to reporters on Thursday morning, saying, “It’s been hard to adjust those goals, honestly. To have missed six, seven games throughout the season, especially on the pace that I was going before the injury, it’s a little tough. To see Tyreek [Hill] going crazy every single week and seeing people throughout the whole league doing tremendous things,” the wide receiver said. “That was the goal, to get to at least close to 2000, but since I got hurt, the new goal is 1000.”
Seeing as Jefferson will finish the year having played a maximum of 10 games, 1000 receiving yards would still be a tremendous effort. It will have meant he’s averaged 100 yards per game, something that only Hill can claim to have done so far this year.
It’s certainly possible as well. Jefferson began the season on a torrent pace, averaging 114.2 yards per game. He surpassed that century mark in 2022 as well, leading the league with 106.4 yards per game.
Heading into Week 14, Jefferson has recorded 571 receiving yards this season, meaning he needs 429 more yards to make it happen. He will have to average right around 86 yards per game in order to hit the mark, but assuming he is 100% healthy, this shouldn’t be too much of an ask. Through his first 55 NFL games, the Vikings star has averaged 98.1 yards per game.
Above all else, though, Jefferson wants to help the Vikings compete and win games. “I’m always gonna do whatever I need to do to help this team win, and I’ll just worry about the individual goals next year,” he stated.
Jefferson’s return to the field has been a much-anticipated one for Vikings fans, and his 2023 campaign is set to restart this weekend when the Vikings take on the Las Vegas Raiders.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.