The 2025 NFL season has been a rollercoaster for Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson. The LSU standout has totaled 686 receiving yards and two touchdowns so far, but he has only hit 100-plus receiving yards in two games—and neither came with J. J. McCarthy under center. Moreover, Jefferson is coming off back-to-back performances in which he hasn’t even reached 50 receiving yards.
The Vikings star is in the middle of his prime years and has posted 1,400 or more receiving yards in four of his five NFL seasons. However, it doesn’t appear that he will hit the 1,400-yard mark this campaign.
Amid the struggles, NBC Sports NFL insider Mike Florio shared a blunt assessment of why Jefferson is struggling this season.
“I’m struggling here to get the right words because I love Justin Jefferson, and I think he’s awesome, and I think he can get back to that,” Florio said on the November 14 edition of “Pro Football Talk Live.”
“But part of me is thinking maybe the other guys are just better now. Maybe it’s not like we’re going to flip a switch. Maybe they’ve figured out how to defend him. Three years later, three years older, three years of wear and tear. I have to force myself to articulate these words, but I think we at least have to account for the possibility.
“The possible explanations are that guy doesn’t work here anymore. You’re not that guy anymore. You’re not going to be that guy again. We’ve seen candles burn very brightly and then not. It’s only Year 6. But if I’m looking at all the potential explanations, one of them is the competition has gotten better. And maybe it’s because he’s not the guy he was three years ago for whatever reason.”
### Does Vikings’ Justin Jefferson Miss His Old Quarterbacks?
For Jefferson’s first four seasons in the league, he had former Vikings quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold passing him the ball. Nonetheless, the same success that the wideout enjoyed with these veteran quarterbacks hasn’t translated with McCarthy.
NBC Sports’ Michael Holley stated in the same segment that Jefferson is paying the price for the learning process the young Vikings quarterback is going through in Year 2, which is technically Year 1 for him considering he missed his rookie season due to injury.
“He’s a great receiver, and I think most great receivers say, ‘Just throw me the ball, I can make any quarterback look good,’ but [the Vikings have had] a lot of change [at quarterback] in the last three years,” Holley said.
“And I think that has affected him, too. He was being nice about J. J. McCarthy [saying], ‘He’s a great player.’ No, he’s not.
“He might become one, but he’s not playing like a great player right now and maybe he doesn’t know how to get you the ball the way you really want it. Maybe he doesn’t fully understand what you’re capable of. He’s trying, but he’s still too green to figure out what he has in Justin Jefferson. It’s a tough spot. I think he’s just as frustrated as AJ Brown, but he’s expressing it in a different way.”
### Vikings’ Justin Jefferson Gets Honest About Struggles
Even though defenses keep bracketing and doubling Jefferson, adding to the frustration around the standout receiver, he made it clear that he still enjoys playing for the Vikings.
Despite the challenges, Jefferson remains committed to his team and optimistic about returning to the high level of play fans have come to expect from him. The 2025 season may be challenging, but many believe it’s just a temporary setback for one of the NFL’s brightest stars.
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/minnesota-vikings/justin-jefferson-brutal-message-mike-florio/
