{"id":720402,"date":"2026-02-01T01:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T01:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/720402\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T01:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T01:42:14","slug":"nfl-world-reacts-as-justin-jefferson-calls-out-vikings-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/720402\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL world reacts as Justin Jefferson calls out Vikings decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last season, Sam Darnold guided the Minnesota Vikings to an impressive 14-3 record during the regular season behind career-best numbers. Even after that strong showing, the organization chose to move on, handing the reins to second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Justin Jefferson does not appear to be happy with that decision.<\/p>\n

In a recent conversation with USA Today, Jefferson was refreshingly candid when discussing McCarthy and the team\u2019s choice to part ways with Darnold, admitting he believes Minnesota would have been better off sticking with the veteran quarterback instead of shifting to McCarthy.<\/p>\n

When asked if the Vikings might be the team heading to the Super Bowl instead of the Seahawks had Darnold stayed put, Jefferson didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, for sure, definitely,\u201d Jefferson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows the difficulty of the quarterback position this year, how we were dealt it,\u201d Jefferson told USA Today<\/a>. \u201cBut having a quarterback that already had a season under his belt with us, knew the plays, knew the playbook, knew the players, throwing to me, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, all these guys, I definitely feel like we would have done better. But it is what it is, it\u2019s on to newer and better things. But I\u2019m definitely happy and proud of him that he is able to reach it this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota endured a rocky season at quarterback, with J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz, and Max Brosmer all taking turns under center and struggling to find consistency.<\/p>\n

Now that Darnold is preparing to play on the NFL\u2019s biggest stage with the Seahawks, Jefferson admits his emotions are complicated. He\u2019s thrilled for his former teammate, but can\u2019t help wishing that success had come while they were still together in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely tough. It\u2019s tough to watch,\u201d Jefferson said. \u201cI love that he\u2019s in the Super Bowl. I\u2019m happy for him, I want nothing but the best for him, especially the way his journey was at first, people doubting him and people not giving him the respect. Now they\u2019re giving him the respect. Now they\u2019re seeing that he\u2019s a top-tier quarterback in this league. Of course, selfishly, I wish he had done that for us last year, but to see him blossom and bounce back right after last year and make it this year, I\u2019m happy for him and I hope he wins. I\u2019m rooting for Seattle and I think Seattle\u2019s gonna win. I\u2019ll be rooting for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needless to say, these candid comments led to a lot of reactions on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustin Jefferson wants a new QB in Minnesota confirmed,\u201d one fan wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing with McCarthy definitely set this team back 5 years,\u201d someone else added.<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds like Jefferson should come join Sam and JSN here in Seattle,\u201d another fan wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t look back. It is time to look ahead. Skol Vikings,\u201d someone else commented.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd here it starts\u2026\u201d another fan wrote.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Jefferson will now be watching from home as his former quarterback chases the ultimate prize in football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last season, Sam Darnold guided the Minnesota Vikings to an impressive 14-3 record during the regular season behind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,2780,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-720402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-justin-jefferson","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-vikings","12":"tag-minnesotavikings","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115992838385951430","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}