The Minnesota Vikings fought hard on Saturday afternoon, in their first preseason game of 2024, an exhibition contest vs the Las Vegas Raiders that had a variety of ups and downs. Kevin O’Connell’s preseason losing streak finally ended, with the Vikings pulling out a 24-23 nailbiter.
We saw Sam Darnold for one drive, and he looked pretty good. Then, we got two quarters of JJ McCarthy. He started slow but finished in elite fashion (see more below), before he was removed in the 3rd quarter, and replaced by Jaren Hall.
On defense , it didn’t take long to find out how desperate the secondary is for cornerback help. Gardner Minshew threw all over the Vikings’ first team defense. In the first half, he looked like a prime Rich Gannon, throwing up and down the US Bank Stadium field.
Justin Jefferson goes crazy for teammates during Minnesota Vikings preseason game
At the start of the 2nd half, with Minnesota down 20-7, Justin Jefferson joined the broadcast booth, from the sideline. And just like that, everything in Saturday’s preseason game changed. Momentum swung fully in the purple’s direction. At least for a little bit.
Moments after Jefferson cracked the mic, McCarthy, who had struggled up until that point, threw an absolute dime deep ball to the left sideline, perfectly laid over two defenders, and dropped right into the bread basket of Trishton Jackson.
“”LET’S GOOOOO!! LET’S GOOOOO!!” You could hear Jefferson’s microphone cracking because he was screaming so loud into it. In that moment, he completely forgot that he had Paul Allen and Pete Bercich in his ear. Both were just laughing and cheering along with him, anyway. It was a great preseason moment.
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A couple drives later, we got more of the same. This time, McCarthy executed a beautiful play action fake handoff, where he fooled the entire Raiders defense. Then, the rookie 1st round pick easily laid it up for a wide open Trent Sherfield, for another TD.
A+ teammate grade
On both plays, McCarthy’s superstar wideout was on the sideline, mic’d up, without pads, and proving that he is just as good of a teammate as he is football player. You can see in the video below, it was difficult for Paul Allen & Co to ask Justin Jefferson questions, because he was too tuned into the game.
Not only was Jefferson cheering on the big plays, like McCarthy’s touchdowns. But Jets was also engaged while the Vikings were on defense. He could be heard screaming at Lucky Jackson, “LET’S GO LUCKY!! LET’S GO LUCKY!!”, after a great play his WR brother made on special teams.
In general, Justin Jefferson was focused on the game and interacting with teammates, as if it meant as much to him as week one vs the New York Giants. Not only is Minnesota’s 25-year-old phenom WR the best in football (no matter what Madden says), but he might be the best teammate in football too.
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If a football franchise is going to pay any non-quarterback $30+ million per year, there is no better player it could be than Justin Jefferson.
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