![\"Justin](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/justin-jefferson-minnesota-vikings_7bce75.jpg\")
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(Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Last season, the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> missed the playoffs with the play at quarterback playing a large role. Nonetheless, this offseason, the Vikings wanted to ensure the QB position doesn\u2019t keep them out of the playoffs in the 2026 NFL<\/a> season.<\/p>\n As a result, the Vikings went out and signed former No. 1 pick Kyler Murray after the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> decided to cut ties with him. Murray will be looking to get his career back on track and live up to the potential that made him the top pick in 2019.<\/p>\n QBs like Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones have benefitted from having Kevin O\u2019Connell as their head coach, and now Murray looks to be the next success story. On April 20, Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson spoke with the media<\/a> and shared his thoughts on Murray coming aboard. <\/p>\n \u201cMy first reaction was just, it\u2019s really good to get some talent in the room, to give a little spark in that room, to see a competitive edge and for those guys to really lock in and do what we\u2019re expecting them to do, which is to come in and be that guy,\u201d Jefferson said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe need that one guy for this team. So I\u2019m definitely excited for that room, excited to see what those guys have in store for us in training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n Justin Jefferson Excited to See Kyler Murray Play for Vikings<\/p>\n Moreover, Jefferson noted that he\u2019s excited to see the former Cardinals<\/a> star play and display the traits that make him an impressive talent. Still, the wideout also highlighted that it will benefit J.J. McCarthy to lock in and know he has major competition if he wants to win the starting job for Week 1. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m definitely looking for those big, exciting plays. I\u2019m looking forward to his speed, his quickness and his arm strength, which he has shown countless times over the years. For J.J., for somebody to enter that room with that type of ability and talent, he has to step it up a little bit. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is good for him to feel that type of pressure and really lock in and say it is either now or I\u2019m going to take that back seat again. It is all about a competitive mindset in these types of situations. It comes down to who is ready for that moment and who is ready to step up and take that initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n Lincoln Riley Doesn\u2019t Hold Back on Kyler Murray<\/p>\n The Vikings received a positive message that they are getting a motivated Murray as the player\u2019s former college head coach, Lincoln Riley, expects big things from the QB.<\/p>\n \u201cWatch out for Kyler Murray in Minnesota,\u201d\u00a0Riley said on an April 17 appearance on \u201cThe Jim Rome Show.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u201cI love, love the pairing of him with Kevin O\u2019Connell. I think Kevin\u2019s fabulous. And watch out with those two together. It\u2019s going to be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Furthermore, Riley went into further detail about why he believes Murray will benefit from having O\u2019Connell as his head coach.<\/p>\n \u201cKOC is a good enough coach, \u201c\u00a0Riley added. \u201cHe will figure out what is best for the skill sets he has. I know he is excited about Kyler Murray and his skill set. I know Murray is equally excited to join that type of organization, a championship-level organization from top to bottom that is run the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Vikings\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images) Last season, the Minnesota Vikings missed the playoffs with the play at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-870739","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-vikings","11":"tag-minnesotavikings","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116438422469860569","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870739","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=870739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}