Justin Jefferson Shares His J.J. McCarthy Thoughts
The 2025 version of the Minnesota Vikings has been quite the disappointment, given the expectations the squad entered the season with. Players and fans alike hoped for a competing unit, but things haven’t clicked. A big reason for that is the struggling QB position, as neither J.J. McCarthy nor Carson Wentz could lead a consistent offense.
Justin Jefferson Shares His J.J. McCarthy Thoughts
For Wentz, that’s not a disaster. He’s a backup and led the team to a pair of wins. McCarthy, however, was expected to be the franchise quarterback but hasn’t lived up to that billing. Granted, it’s been five games.
His recent performances have raised some serious questions about his ability to become that guy to lead the organization for years to come. Despite the luxury of a decent offensive line as well as weapons all over the field, McCarthy’s play has been among the league’s worst.
Receiver Justin Jefferson was on the wrong end of various inexplicable misses in the last couple of games and was visibly frustrated in the losing efforts. On Thursday, he was asked about McCarthy’s mindset following his poor performance, and he still has his young QB’s back.
“I feel like he handled it really well. Not really thinking about the negatives, not really thinking about the past game. Just moving forward and more focused on how he can improve, how can he better operate the offense and lead us to more touchdowns and more drives to eventually win the game.”
McCarthy completed only 16 of 32 passes. Some of the incompletions were drops, others were dramatic inaccuracies.
“Just talking to him,” Jefferson continued, “and being on his shoulder, making sure that mentally, he’s got his head on right. I just know with all of the criticism and all of the hateful messages he’s probably been getting, he can cut on the TV on SportsCenter, they can talk negatively about him. Just trying to be that person for him that he can always lean on and talk to.”
Every analyst you can find has ripped the 22-year-old apart throughout the past few days. But watching or reading that stuff certainly won’t help him keep a calm mind.
Jefferson offered some advice: “Block it all out. Allow yourself to come here, allow this place to be a sanctuary for you to lean on your brothers, to talk to your brothers about anything. And allow us to help him in any way we can. I feel like that allows him to be stress-free and not really think about the negative comments and think about ‘I gotta be so perfect’ going forward. It’s just all about the process of getting better every single day in practice, every single rep, the details, the footwork … and then Sunday, just let it all loose.”
The wideout is watching another receiving title go up in smoke. Jaxon Smith-Njigba is cooking with Sam Darnold and Puka Nacua is catching dart after dart from Matthew Stafford. Though Jefferson has been pretty much quarterback-proof throughout his career, even he can’t catch passes that sail ten feet over his head.
He wants to stay patient: “I feel like that’s been my whole entire career. I kind of had to learn how to have patience with the process, patience with going about my business, how defenses cover me, how we perform as a whole. I’m more focused on what I can control and how can I better this team. Given the C on my chest and given the opportunity to be one of the leaders of the team, I take that very seriously.”
Jefferson has been extremely vocal about his role as a team captain, and he has been a flawless leader for the operation. It wouldn’t be unusual at all for a star receiver to throw his quarterback under the bus or voice some general frustration, but he’s been the perfect face of the franchise in that regard.
The two areas that will stall a passing game are decision-making and accuracy. Neither has been flawless by any means for McCarthy — at least on Sundays. According to Jefferson, McCarthy can pull it off in practice and it’s giving him the confidence that the sophomore will put it all together sooner rather than later.
“The people that’s out there at practice sees the throws that he makes, sees the reads that he’s making,” Jefferson said. “He’s making the great reads. He’s throwing the ball with great accuracy. It’s just all about doing it in the game. Not allowing the game to speed up his brain. Allowing himself to be in the moment, to be poised, to be focused on all of the things that we have going on and just be yourself. He can make those throws. He’s a great quarterback in this league. It’s just all about going out there on Sundays, when it all counts and it all matters, and showing up.”
Ultimately, McCarthy is still new to the big league. He’s played five games and might need to keep a calm mind on game day. That could come as he’s getting more reps. He has seven games remaining to show at least some improvement this season. Throwing the ball to his All-Pro receiver would be a good start.
His next chance to do that will be on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. At Lambeau Field, he wants to strike again and complete the road division win three-peat.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.