Vikings WR Justin Jefferson Did NOT Want to Exit Game Early vs Commanders

“Any given Sunday” will live in the heads of Minnesota Vikings fans forever, after the roller-coaster ride of a season we’ve all endured during the 2025 NFL season. Week 14 against the Washington Commanders was no exception, either.

In fact, today’s 31-0 stomping of Jayden Daniels his reeling squad out of DC was one of the best examples of just how random life in the National Football League can feel week-to-week.

Just seven days ago, the MN Vikings were on the receiving end of a 26-0 beatdown at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks that felt very similar to the one they laid on the DC Commanders this afternoon.

Justin Jefferson left out of Minnesota Vikings win

In that loss, superstar wide receiver Just Jefferson caught just 2 passes on 6 targets for 8 total receiving yards, arguably the worst performance of his NFL career.

If you look at Justin’s box score this week, you can barely tell the difference. Again, the highly compensated wide receiver caught just 2 passes, this time for 11 yards (4 targets).

After the game, Kevin O’Connell met with reporters, where he was asked late in his press conference about Justin Jefferson’s lack of production lately. To that, KOC said that the Minnesota Vikings captain only cares about winning, which was THE difference that mattered to Jefferson between last week and this week.

Just because this week’s blowout was flipped in favor of the Vikings, that doesn’t mean an ultimate competitor like Justin Jefferson wants to exit the field of play early.

Justin Jefferson TRIED EVERYTHING to stay in vs Commanders

And with Minnesota up big against Washington late, that’s exactly what the Vikings coaching staff wanted him to do, with about 7-8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

According to KOC, Jefferson did everything he could this afternoon, to avoid being pulled early. The 26-year-old even hid from the head coach, before needing multiple staff members, including security director Dave Korus to track down the organization’s most valuable asset before he could put his body in harm’s way.

Justin Jefferson was HIDING from Kevin O'Connell late during Vikings vs Commanders because he did not want to be pulled from the game.
KOC said SECURITY had to get involved to keep him off the field… 🫣 pic.twitter.com/0jEILk1GmS

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) December 7, 2025

“We’re going to find ways to get Justin the ball. He did not play 60 minutes today. That was a tough conversation. He tried to avoid me and run out on the field with about 7 or 8 minutes left in the game.

We were able to, you know, a collective group effort between myself, Keenan, and a couple of other folks, probably Dave Korus, our security guy as well, because Justin did not want to come out of the game, obviously.

If Justin has demonstrated anything this year. The leadership, the smile on his face right now, he wants to win. In this day and age where it’s really easy to look at these and say, ‘this guy did this’ and ‘this guy did that’.

Justin Jefferson’s been playing at a really high level, and he did again today. It’s not necessarily going to always show up in the stat sheet, but he means the absolute world to this organization.

You don’t have a performance like we did today unless your leadership, Justin being a huge part of that remains driving the ship forward and bringing some teammates along with him.”

Kevin O’Connell on Justin Jefferson’s lack of productivity vs Commanders

If JJ McCarthy continues to play better, Jefferson’s touches will come

Obviously, as KOC said, the Minnesota Vikings must find a way to get Justin Jefferson the football more regularly. That responsibility falls on the shoulders of two people for the most part, Kevin O’Connell and JJ McCarthy.

The last time we saw JJ McCarthy take the football field, he threw up one of the most disgusting performances of any QB in Minnesota Vikings franchise history — completing 12/19 passes for a whopping 87 yards and 2 interceptions (0 TDs) in a 23-6 loss @ the Packers.

I don’t know if this is where the “Nine” thing comes into play, but whoever that kid was back in Green Bay, it wasn’t who took the field at U.S. Bank Stadium in week 14. On Sunday vs Washington, McCarthy made great decisions, delivered accurately and ran (a semi-limited) O’Connell offense to near perfection.

Three for the tight ends today!@TheeHock8

📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/4bvrsA5q2Y

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) December 7, 2025

When the dust settled in Minneapolis, JJ’s stat line was better than mind-blowing… it was efficient. The 22-year-old went 16-of-23 (69.6%) for 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. His passer rating an impressive 129.2.

But if there is one thing the Vikings were pushing for this week, that they did not see out of their 2024 No. 10 overall draft pick, it was more completed passes to superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

Related: Top MN Vikings Assistant Not a Head Coach Candidate

The last thing our developing QB needs now, however, is to worry about his star receiver not getting enough catches. We’ve seen what can happen when a young McCarthy gets overstimulated.

If Jefferson wants to be a true leader, he will celebrate the kid’s performance and decision-making today, knowing it will pay him back in the future.