The numbers don't lie: Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson is having one of the worst seasons in his NFL career.
Through 14 games this season, Jefferson has caught 66 passes for 832 yards and two touchdowns. He is pacing to get to 1,000 yards barely and have a career-low in touchdown catches.
In a recent appearance on the "Up & Adams" show, NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter shared his thoughts on what is going on with Jefferson this season. Carter told Kay Adams that Jefferson is doing "all the right things" after having personal conversations with the young receiver, but the inconsistency of J.J. McCarthy is hurting his numbers.
"This is the first time during J.J.'s career that they can't attack the full field. Ever since his rookie year in KOC's offense, they have been able to throw the ball and especially take deep shots down the field, especially off the play action, and you can see that he's starting to press.
He's not putting up the numbers he's used to. Randy Moss had some of the same issues. He was so successful early in his career that when things got difficult, and they only got difficult with inconsistency at quarterback."
Minnesota Vikings legend says J.J. McCarthy is holding Justin Jefferson back from bigger numbers
Jefferson is so used to being the offense's number one target that the offense runs completely differently when McCarthy is the starter. McCarthy likes to spread the ball around to everyone and not focus on one guy like Jefferson.
This is much different from years past, when Kirk Cousins or Sam Darnold would look in Jefferson's direction first. Cousins and Darnold also had the arm talent to go down the field to Jefferson for big plays, as McCarthy is more of a short and immediate pass player.
The reality is that McCarthy's development is taking longer due to injuries he sustained last year and this year, so he has not gotten the game reps most young quarterbacks would have by now. McCarthy's previous two games, though, are showing that he is making good progress.
Over the last two games, McCarthy has completed 65.9 percent of his passes for 413 yards and five touchdowns to one interception with a rushing score to add to it. As for Jefferson, he has had four receptions for 33 yards in that same stretch.
Credit needs to be given to Jefferson for being a team player and for not causing any distractions by showing support for his young quarterback. There will come a time, though, that Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell has to do something about Jefferson getting more involved in the offense if they want to keep him in Minnesota long term.