Justin Jefferson is telling the truth about Sam Darnold. It probably also means he’s being honest about J.J. McCarthy.
“Everyone knows the difficulty of the quarterback position this year, how we were dealt it,” Jefferson told USA Today Sports. “But 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.”
Jefferson is just being honest.
Darnold threw for 4,319 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions with the Minnesota Vikings last year. After the Vikings chose not to franchise tag him in the offseason, he threw for 4,048 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions, leading the Seattle Seahawks to the Super Bowl.
Meanwhile, J.J. McCarthy threw for 1,632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 picks in 10 games. The Vikings started 4-8 and were out of the playoff race by December. Jefferson barely eclipsed 1,000 yards, and that’s including productive games when Carson Wentz replaced McCarthy under center early in the year.
Everyone knows the Vikings would have been better this season with Darnold under center. To what extent? We’ll never know. But Minnesota’s rotating group of quarterbacks, headlined by McCarthy, wasted a year of Jefferson’s prime.
However, Jefferson believes in McCarthy.
“If you look at the film, you look at the things that he’s done. He’s done very good things,” Jefferson said on Wednesday’s Up and Adams Show with Kay Adams. “Obviously, it wasn’t the most spectacular thing. Those are things that he understands, and we all understand as a building that there are some things to work on. But J.J. is a really good quarterback. He’s a really good guy personally to sit there and talk to, and he’s a great leader, a great motivator.”
Jefferson isn’t just saying that because he praised Darnold recently. It echoes what he said about McCarthy all year.
“Continue to be yourself,” Jefferson said he told McCarthy after Minnesota’s first-year quarterback had a 54.5 passer rating in its 27-19 Week 10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which was the beginning of the end of their season. “Continue to have that confidence and don’t really overthink things.
“Even though things are not going the greatest for us, and we’re still figuring out some things, don’t let that kind of hinder your play, getting away from making the right reads or making the proper plays, because he’s a great player.”
McCarthy had played well the previous week in Detroit. However, he regressed against Baltimore and had a 47.7 passer rating in Minnesota’s home loss to the Chicago Bears a week later. His 12-for-19, 87-yard, two-interception Week 12 performance in Green Bay effectively ended the Vikings’ playoff hopes.
After missing the Seattle Seahawks game in Week 13 due to a concussion, McCarthy returned a week later and had his best games against the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys. It was too late to salvage Minnesota’s season, and he was beating up on Washington and Dallas’ lousy defenses.
Still, his play elicited praise from Jefferson, who said McCarthy had started playing the way he had in practice all year. McCarthy had a season-high 129.2 passer rating against Washington and a 108 passer rating against the Cowboys.
“It’s hard to win in this league,” Jefferson said after Minnesota’s Week 15 game in Dallas. “So having… [McCarthy] just going out there with that confidence, with that focus, and just leading us to where we would like to go, that’s kind of something that we’ve been waiting for this entire season. I’m just glad that it’s starting to click.”
It’s easier to accept Jefferson’s words at face value when he’s praising Darnold while admitting it’s hard to see him in the Super Bowl, while Minnesota missed the playoffs. Still, it’s equally important to consider what he’s saying about McCarthy.
The Vikings haven’t committed to J.J. McCarthy as their starter next year. Meanwhile, Justin Jefferson says that’s not his responsibility to decide who they put under center. However, he reiterated his belief in McCarthy all season.
Perhaps Jefferson is too honest for his own good. But that means we should take what he has to say seriously.
