Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson addressed his visible frustration following Sunday\'s 26-0 loss to Seattle, but the star wideout stopped short of expressing concern about the team\'s long-term direction. Jefferson skipped his postgame news conference for the first time in his career after the defeat.
Speaking Thursday to local reporters, Jefferson acknowledged his emotions were running high after the loss. The Vikings hold a 4-8 record with five games remaining in the season.
Jefferson sat despondently on a water cooler during the fourth quarter of Sunday\'s shutout loss. When asked if he worries Minnesota is wasting the prime of his career, the sixth-year receiver demurred.
\"No, I wouldn\'t say wasted,\" Jefferson said. \"Obviously it\'s a difficult season. It\'s probably one of the most difficult seasons just off of the circumstances, having a young quarterback, having a different team, having young players on the team. So it\'s just one of those years. Not every year is going to be a top-tier year for me. It\'s really a part of the game, so it\'s just all on me to expect a lot from these guys and to improve on anything that we need to improve on as an offense.\"
Jefferson entered the season averaging 96.5 receiving yards per game, the highest in NFL history among qualified players. In seven games with second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy and rookie Max Brosmer, he has averaged just 46 yards.
The All-Pro ranks 12th in the NFL with 60 receptions for 799 yards this season. He has caught only two touchdowns and needs 601 receiving yards over the final five games to avoid a career-low for a full season.
Jefferson is set to finish his sixth season without a playoff win. McCarthy has made six starts this season while Brosmer has started one game.
Kevin O\'Connell said earlier this week the team recognizes it is not performing to Jefferson\'s standard.
\"He obviously wants to win football games,\" O\'Connell said. \"He\'s as competitive as anybody I\'ve ever been around, and he\'s a leader on our team.\"
Jefferson maintained his competitive nature remains intact despite the difficult circumstances.
\"You have to have a lot of patience,\" Jefferson said. \"I mean, we\'re 4-8. That\'s definitely a difficult thing to go through. It\'s definitely not exciting to lose games, and especially in front of our fans at home. Those are definitely things that I hate doing. I always was a kid that was a competitor at the highest level. I hated losing, hated losing board games. Those are all things that I hated losing. So of course I hate being in this situation and losing these games, but there\'re going to be better times and there\'s going to be a time where people cut on that TV and they\'re talking all about us and they jumped on our bandwagon.\"