It was a challenging 2025 NFL season for Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson, who barely recorded over 1,000 yards receiving and only had two touchdowns. Nonetheless, Jefferson didn’t display his frustration during the campaign.
However, now in the offseason and especially with Sam Darnold reaching the Super Bowl, Jefferson noted that the Vikings’ season could’ve gone differently had the team decided to stick with Darnold rather than letting him walk as a free agent to the Seattle Seahawks.
“Everyone knows the difficulty of the quarterback position this year, how we were dealt it,“ Jefferson said when asked by USA Today.
“Having a quarterback that already had a season under his belt with us, knew the plays, knew the playbook, knew the players, throwing to me, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, all these guys, I definitely feel like we would have done better. But it is what it is. It’s on to newer and better things. But I’m definitely happy and proud of him that he is able to reach it this year.”
These remarks are the closest that Jefferson has come to criticizing the Vikings over their handling of the QB situation.
Nonetheless, FS1’s Chris Broussard believes that Jefferson should take a page from Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown when it comes to criticizing the front office over how the play under center is impacting his production.
“The Vikings are lucky Justin Jefferson is a fun‑loving guy, because as much as I criticize A. J. Brown, he could probably use a little bit of A. J. Brown,“ Broussard said on the Feb. 2 edition of “First Things First.“ “Not maybe to go that far, but Justin Jefferson would be fully within his rights to be ticked off. This is his career.”
Vikings’ Justin Jefferson Remains No. 1 WR for Jerry Rice
Although Jefferson had a down season by his standards, San Francisco 49ers legend Jerry Rice didn’t hold back on whether he believes that the Vikings star is a top player at his position.
“I still got to go with Justin Jefferson,” Rice said on a Jan. 28 appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show” about the best wideout in the NFL, leading to his indirect shot at McCarthy and the other QBs that Jefferson has caught passes from.
“Even though he hasn’t had a quarterback, this guy can do it all. He can stretch the field. He can out-jump you. He’s not afraid to go across the middle. There are some great receivers out there, but I would still put him as No. 1.”
J.J. McCarthy Gets Scathing Words After GM Firing
Recently, sports media host Jim Rome didn’t hold back on the reasons Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fired, but he put most of the blame on starting QB J.J. McCarthy, whom the former Vikings general manager selected as the team’s franchise signal-caller, a decision that didn’t pay off in 2025.
“The truth is, [McCarthy] in and of himself did not get his GM fired,“ Rome said on the Jan. 30 edition of “The Jim Rome Show.“ “He didn’t do it alone. Now, he had help, and he had something to do with it, but he had help. Sam Darnold helped. Daniel Jones’ amazing start to the season helped. Aaron Rodgers leading the Steelers to the playoffs helped.
“So it’s not all on J.J., but it’s mostly on J.J. because the biggest problem facing the Vikings right now is that they still have an uncertain future at quarterback. They had all these quarterbacks go through there, and they still have no quarterback. And the rumors this week about bringing in Mac Jones clearly did not set ownership’s hair on fire or help J.J. They’re not even positive what they have in ‘Nine‘ because ‘Nine‘ can’t even stay on the field.”
Justin Jefferson Gets A.J. Brown Take Amid Vikings QB Situation