Minnesota Vikings Superstar Present for Start of Voluntary OTAs

The Minnesota Vikings are getting together for the first day of Organized Team Activities, Tuesday. Unlike with other NFL teams, who might be dealing with highly-paid no-show QBs, the annual highly-ranked vibes in Eagan remain “immaculate”.

From everything insiders can gather, chatter surrounding JJ McCarthy — who’s thrown just 17 preseason passes during his NFL career — is unanimously positive. This, after the Vikings built a Super Bowl caliber roster around the redshirt rookie this offseason, totally revamping the interior of both lines through free agency and the draft, while also adding depth to the rest of the roster.

Because of those new additions, most healthy Minnesota Vikings players were expected to be in attendance this week, as the team looks to build rapport as quickly as possible. With that being said, if there is one player who would have been excused for missing VOLUNTARY Offseason Team Activities this year (outside of maybe Harrison Smith), it’s superstar wide receiver, Justin Jefferson.

Related: Kirk Cousins No-Shows Falcons

The 2x All-Pro and 4x Pro Bowler has earned the extra time off. Besides, at the end of the 2025 season, health permitting, we all know Jettas is going to finish near the top of the leaderboard in all receiving categories. But as we have come to find out, the longer Justin Jefferson is in Minnesota, that’s just not how the our superstar is wired.

Of course Justin Jefferson was at day one of Minnesota Vikings OTAs

With a new quarterback (and lockermate) to gain rapport with now healthy and wearing his red jersey this week, there was no chance Justin Jefferson was going to miss a chance at putting that horned helmet on (literally) alongside him.

And late-Tuesday afternoon, we got proof of Jettas dedication when the team posted a video to their social medias of Justin Jefferson running out of TCO indoor facilities, to the outdoor practice fields. Right before him, was a video of McCarthy running across the sideline in his helmet and red practice jersey.

Vikings OTA vibes have never been more immaculate pic.twitter.com/IvRmw1uNCK

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) May 27, 2025

One year after signing what was then the largest non-QB contract in league history, Jefferson — who’s going on his third season as team captain — turned around and helped Kevin O’Connell spin former top three pick-turned-bust Sam Darnold into a Pro Bowl quarterback.

In 2024, with Darnold under center, Justin Jefferson caught 103 passes for 1,533 yards and 10 touchdowns, bringing his career totals to 495 receptions, 7,432 receiving yards and 40 touchdowns caught, over 77 games.

Why Jefferson would show up for Voluntary OTAs? (Hint: JJ McCarthy)

Last week, Justin Jefferson spoke about his relationship building mission with JJ McCarthy. In that interview, the soon-to-be 26-year-old phenom made it very clear how acutely aware he is to the fact that McCarthy holds the key to Jefferson’s future HOF bust in Canton.

Related: MN Vikings Insider Unable to Dig Up Any Dirt on JJ McCarthy

For that reason alone, it’s no surprise that No. 18 is in attendance today… even beyond what Justin brings to the team as a captain and a leader. Despite all the new pieces on roster, arguably the biggest reason why most pundits still expect the MN Vikings offense to succeed, no matter who’s under center, is Justin Jefferson.

What makes Jets so special, though… is that, while he may be the greatest wide receiver in NFL history, through his first four professional seasons, Justin is an even better human and teammate, than he is a football player. And that, my friends, is something you rarely see from professional athletes, especially those with the talent and star power of this man.