EAGAN, Minn. -- Scrolling through his social media feed Thursday morning, Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson saw a post commemorating the best catch of his NFL career. The video of his leaping one-handed reception, converting a fourth down against the Buffalo Bills in 2022, left him feeling nostalgic about a time when he was arguably the most dominant skill player in the league.
Amid a challenging season that has left the Vikings in last place in the NFC North, and after a game in which his frustrations seemed to boil over in a 27-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Jefferson said Thursday that he is "trying to work back" to the level he reached in 2022. He said he wanted to return to what he called his "savage mode" with an "F-it mentality."
"Just going out there and just killing it," he said, "and not worrying about the plays, not worrying about anything else."
Jefferson won the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year award in 2022 after catching 128 passes for 1,809 yards and 8 touchdowns. He has since remained one of the NFL's most productive receivers but hasn't approached his 2022 numbers. Asked what happened to get away from that level, Jefferson said: "Life."
He added: "Just different things going on in my life and just wanting to get back to that kid phase of loving it. I still love football, but overly loving football and overly loving just being out there on Sundays and making the big plays and just being a part of this great organization. So, just wanting to get back mentally into that mode."
This season, Jefferson is navigating the Vikings' transition to quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Jefferson's average of 76.2 yards per game this season ranks No. 9 in the NFL. But his production in four starts with McCarthy -- an average of 4.25 catches and 52.3 yards per game -- has been far below his career levels.
Two of McCarthy's passes intended for Jefferson were intercepted by the Ravens on Sunday, including one after Jefferson tripped and fell. On both occasions, Jefferson appeared disconnected from the play and did not give chase during the interception return. Overall, he caught only four of the 12 passes intended for him. Jefferson admitted Thursday that "it definitely wasn't one of my best games."
Jefferson, however, offered a forceful defense of his body language during the interception returns, and throughout the game, and made clear that his frustration was not an indicator of larger issues.
"I want to win," Jefferson said. "I'm not really mad at the situation that I'm in or I'm not mad at the players that we have or the plays that's being called. Of course, I'm mad after an interception. You want me to be happy and go chase them down? That's not really something that I want to happen.
"Of course, the outcome of the game is us losing, and I was the one that's getting thrown that ball and it is getting picked off. So, a lot of emotion goes towards that. But at the end of the day, I want to win, and I'm an ultra-competitor, and a lot of people that don't play this game and don't play sports don't understand the competitive side of it. So yeah, I want to win, and emotionally, things get heated sometimes and things weren't going our way at that moment. So, just wanting a better outcome. And of course, the offense that we have, I feel like we should be playing better than what we are."
Close observers have watched for signs that Jefferson might not be on board with developing a young quarterback. Thursday, however, Jefferson called McCarthy "a great player" and added: "He's a great quarterback. He's a great kid."