Justin Jefferson was all Vikings fans when he was mic'd up against the Raiders

Mic’ing up players during games has become more popular during television broadcasts and the Minnesota Vikings tried something different by giving Justin Jefferson a live microphone in the third quarter of Saturday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Sometimes the concept is better than the result but this was not one of them. Instead, Jefferson turned out to be many Vikings fans as Minnesota came back from a 20-7 halftime deficit.

It started early in the third quarter when Jefferson was asked which plays he typically likes to run. Like an experienced Madden player, Jefferson suggested that the Vikings go deep on every play, revealing himself to be a four-verts connoisseur.

The strategy paid off later in the third quarter when J.J. McCarthy threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Trishton Jackson along the left sideline to cut the lead down to 20-14. Like Vikings fans in their living rooms, Jefferson screamed “Let’s go!” while racing down the sideline to congratulate his teammates.

Jefferson’s L1 button – as play-by-play announcer Paul Allen put it – continued to work later in the third quarter when McCarthy connected on a 33-yard touchdown pass to Trent Sherfield Sr. When Jefferson saw the busted coverage, he screamed, “Got him! Got him!” until the ball landed into Sherfield’s hands for the score.

Jefferson’s enthusiasm even extended to the defensive side of the ball as Bo Richter collected a tackle for loss on Anthony Brown Jr.

Jefferson’s commentary was so apparent, that it had head coach Kevin O’Connell wondering what was going on until he realized Jefferson was part of the broadcast.

“You want to say ‘Hey?’” Jefferson asked.

“I do,” O’Connell replied. “The real question is, ‘Why do I see Justin…he never stands by himself. He’s the energy, the ignitor. Why in the world is he standing all by himself and talking to himself?’ Now I know.”

Jefferson’s appearance was not a one-off for Vikings preseason games as an undisclosed player will be mic’d up for the third quarter of Minnesota’s game against the Cleveland Browns on Saturday and O’Connell will be mic’d up for the preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 24.

Until then, here’s a full display of Jefferson mic’d up on Saturday.

This article is courtesy of Athlon Sports writer Chris Schad.