Vikings WR Justin Jefferson says he’s worked hard to ‘not be a virus to the team’

After a record-setting performance in a Week 1 win over the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson was humbled over his next two outings.

Upset over the amount of double- and triple-teams he was seeing, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell took the opportunity to nip Jefferson’s frustrations in the bud ahead of the team’s 28-25 win over the New Orleans Saints in London.

“Just because I’m not being an emotional player,” Jefferson told reporters in London about what’s changed over the last two weeks. “I’m not being a virus to the team, just being frustrated, I’m going to be frustrated but I’m going to keep that to myself. At the end of the day, if somebody is double-teaming me, I can’t really do too much about that. 

“That just shows you how much affect I have on the defensive side, just being a key player, just having them know where I’m at, at all times. If I’m getting doubled, K.J. (Osborn) and Adam (Thielen) are getting 1-on-1s.”

Jefferson caught nine of his 11 targets for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener but was held to just nine receptions on 18 targets for 62 yards in Weeks 2 and 3. 

He earned his vindicating moment against the Saints secondary on Sunday, burning them for 10 receptions and 147 yards, including a 39-yard reception with 1:17 in the fourth quarter that set up Minnesota’s winning field goal.