Justin Jefferson building rapport with J.J. McCarthy at Vikings’ OTAs

EAGAN, Minn. — About midway through the Minnesota Vikings’ fourth OTA of the spring, receiver Justin Jefferson lined up on the left side of the formation. The play was a familiar one: A quick pass to Jefferson, who would then work toward the sideline in search of open grass.

On this occasion, however, quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw a bit too quickly and too far ahead. The ball sailed past Jefferson and out of bounds.

McCarthy’s pass didn’t seem inaccurate as much as it illustrated a case of imperfect timing between a star playmaker and a quarterback taking the initial extended first-team reps of his NFL career.

In that moment, it was easy to understand why Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell spent time this winter convincing Jefferson to attend the voluntary workouts that he had mostly skipped in recent years. Early June is a better time to work through the twists of a quarterback-receiver relationship than July, August or beyond — especially when one of them has as many unique traits as Jefferson.

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“I feel like it’s more of for the [quarterbacks] than for me,” Jefferson said. “I mean, it really doesn’t matter who’s throwing the ball. As soon as the ball gets close to my face, I’m going to try to catch it. It doesn’t matter how fast the ball is going, the spin of it, or if it’s coming from a lefty or a righty.

“I mean, my job is to catch the ball. So I feel like this is more for the quarterback to see the tempo of the routes, seeing how I run the routes, seeing the different moves that I add on to my routes. And I feel like working with that is more of a quarterback thing than a receiver thing.”

That partially explains why Jefferson hasn’t felt the urgency to attend voluntary workouts in recent years, even as the Vikings transitioned from quarterback Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold in 2024. During the past two seasons, after all, Jefferson has played with five different starting quarterbacks and still ranked atop the NFL with an average of 96.6 yards per game.

He always attended mandatory minicamps, but O’Connell spoke to him about the value of participating in the voluntary portion this spring as well, not only to help McCarthy and new backup Sam Howell, but also because he thinks Jefferson is an “energy igniter” throughout the team facility.

The NFL Players Association has spoken out in recent years about the pressure players feel to attend voluntary workouts. But Jefferson, who finalized a contract extension at the end of the 2024 offseason, said that he was “most likely going to be here anyway” and added that it was a “no-brainer” when “they asked me to be here for part of it.”

Jefferson added: “It’s definitely important to gain a little bit of sight of what the new year is going to look like, and to build that connection with my teammates and especially with my quarterback … It definitely feels great to be here a little earlier than normal.”

Regardless of why and how he ended up spending his spring in Minnesota, Jefferson appears determined to make the most of it. He was a regular on the front row at Target Center during the Minnesota Timberwolves’ postseason run to the NBA’s Western Conference finals, and he hosted a youth camp at the team facility last month.

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There is little doubt, however, that the most significant impact of his presence this spring has, and will continue be, on the team’s quarterbacks. Two of the four passers on the roster, Howell and undrafted free agent Max Brosmer, are new to the team. McCarthy had minimal reps with Jefferson last year, working almost exclusively with the second team, before he suffered a season-ending torn right meniscus in the preseason opener.

The most important thing he wants McCarthy and the rest of the quarterbacks to know, he joked, is to “just throw it up anywhere and I’m going to go get it.”

But beyond that, Jefferson spent time last week talking about some relatively intricate subsets of his techniques that have evolved from his longer-than-usual stride length.

“From what I’ve learned, I would say the difference between me and a different receiver is what I put on the top of my routes,” Jefferson said. “The flavor I have on the tops, the stride length that I have with my routes, and just knowing certain routes that I’ll break it off at a certain distance, that another receiver might break it off a little earlier, because of my stride length. So all of that just goes into play, and the more we’re out here and just having those reps, the better we’re going to be.”

McCarthy said earlier this spring that he and Jefferson are “not where we want to be” but that “we’re going to be there when we need to.”

There is no substitute for time on task. Vikings players and coaches have been wearing T-shirts this spring with the words “More is Required,” a phrase coined by linebacker Jonathan Greenard following the team’s wild-card playoff exit last season. Jefferson has responded with one asset he had left to give: time.