This is not the start the Minnesota Vikings envisioned, not after they went 13-4 a season ago (in spite of a negative point differential).
The Vikings have suffered one-score losses to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers to drop to 0-3 this season, but star wide receiver Justin Jefferson said Thursday he does not want to hear about next season or hypothetical trades for the future.
"At the end of the day, it's not going to be perfect every time," Jefferson told reporters. "There's things that you've got to go through throughout the season to really tell if you're going to be a great team or not. We're handling adversity early in the season with the turnovers and being 0-3, but there is a whole bunch of more games to go.
Jefferson leads the NFL with 458 receiving yards, which marked a league record for the first three weeks of a season. That puts him on pace for a record-breaking 2,595 yards through 17 games.
But the Vikings, who play at the winless Carolina Panthers on Sunday, have allowed the sixth-most yards and seventh-most points in the NFL.
With 35-year-old quarterback Kirk Cousins on an expiring contract, hubbub has surfaced among media and fans suggesting that the New York Jets should acquire Cousins to make a playoff run with Aaron Rodgers sidelined by an Achilles injury.
"I'm tired of people saying that we're looking into next season or all of the trades and stuff like that," Jefferson said. "We're focused still on this season. We have a lot more games to go and we have a lot more things to accomplish this season. We're still focused in, and we still have the same goal as we had before the season. We just need to fix a few things and I feel like we'll be back on track."
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