Justin Jefferson raves about J.J. McCarthy's poise and leadership

What changed to help the Vikings snap out of a funk that lasted three quarters before exploding for 21 points in the fourth quarter to beat the Bears 27-24 in Monday night's season opener?

"Nothing. Honestly. We kept our head up, we kept our composure and we kept fighting," Justin Jefferson told Scott Van Pelt on ESPN's postgame show. "This is all about just going out there and competing every single play."

Minnesota trailed 17-6 after three quarters and hadn't converted a third down until J.J. McCarthy found Jefferson for a 13-yard touchdown just shy of three minutes into the fourth quarter. From there, the Vikings scored on their next two possessions, with McCarthy hitting running back Aaron Jones for a 27-yard touchdown pass and then McCarthy ran for a 14-yard score.

"You gotta know adversity is going to hit. Every game is not going to be perfect. That first half, it was a tough struggle. But that second half, went in that locker room, told every body keep your heads up, we aren't even down by a lot," Jefferson explained.

"Momentum is a crazy thing," Jefferson said, noting that the tide turned once he scored.

That touchdown clearly took some pressure off of McCarthy, who was magical in the fourth quarter to help Minnesota start the season 1-0 while also winning his NFL debut in his hometown.

"That's definitely something special, for sure. To be from this hometown, to come in and perform like this. Very special, man," Jefferson said of McCarthy.

"We're very excited about the poise that he had, the confidence that he carried himself with the entire week. And he led us. In the huddle, talking, making sure that we're on our Ps and Qs and we're going out there and playing every snap, no matter what the score is. But for him to come in the huddle, give us those words of wisdom, on the sideline, keeping everybody motivated, keeping everybody's head up, that's very big from a rookie quarterback."

It wasn't just McCarthy overcoming adversity. It was the entire team getting a perfect lesson from a less-than-perfect performance.

"So many things that went well on this field and there's so many different things that didn't go well on this field," Jefferson continued. "It's all about knowing that we're going to go through adversity, knowing that we're going to hit those roadblocks throughout the game sometimes. It's all about keeping our head up, keeping that confidence," he said. "It's just great to come in here, away, get a victory like this. It's very special, man."

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