Jefferson on down year amid Vikes' 6-0 start: 'What we're doing is working'

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  Kevin SeifertOct 28, 2026, 07:22 PM ET

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  Kevin Seifert is a staff writer who covers the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL at ESPN. Kevin has covered the NFL for over 20 years, joining ESPN in 2008. He was previously a beat reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and Washington Times. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

EAGAN, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson said Wednesday that "it's definitely an in-between feeling" as his production languishes while he plays for the NFL's only undefeated team.

As the Vikings (6-0) adjust to new quarterback Kyler Murray, Jefferson has had the worst start in his seven-year career. His average of 60.4 receiving yards per game through Week 7 is 32% lower than his next-worst start to a season in 2025, when he averaged 88 yards per game. His 23 catches are also his lowest total through the first seven weeks of a season in his career.

Jefferson has missed one full game and most of another because of a sprained left ankle, and the Vikings have already had their bye. He cited those mitigating factors Wednesday in saying that he is not "too frustrated or just going to the higher ups and asking for the ball."

All told, 71 NFL players have more targets than Jefferson (31) this season.

"I definitely would love winning games over having that production," Jefferson said. "There was definitely years before where I had that production and was not winning games. So it's definitely an in-between feeling on, you want to be the best player in the league and you want to have that production to show you are the best player in the league, but we're winning games and we're the only team undefeated in the league.

"What we're doing right now [as a team] is working. Obviously there's things to do better and things to fix on the offensive side of things, but all in all, it's coming together and we're doing things to win games."

The Vikings will enter the most difficult portion of their schedule beginning this week at the Detroit Lions, a game that will be followed by matchups against the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers. To this point, coach Kevin O'Connell has worked to get Murray more comfortable in the offense, while knowing his team has the best defense in the NFL and one the league's top special teams. O'Connell's solution: through seven weeks, the Vikings have the NFL's fourth-highest rate of designed runs (43.3%) and its second-fewest number of dropbacks (198).

"In the past we were throwing the ball a thousand times," O'Connell said Wednesday when asked about the drop in Jefferson's production. "That's one thing. When you lead the league or you're close to in in rushing attempts on the early downs, controlling the game or attempting to control the game, there may not be just the amount of volume [of throws]. But he's our best player. We've got to find a way to continue to activate him."