For the third straight season, the Minnesota Vikings will have a new quarterback as the starter for Week One. Minnesota is officially in the J.J. McCarthy era, after a knee injury prevented him from appearing in what was slated to be his rookie season last year.
Now, the receiver who figures to be McCarthy’s top target, Justin Jefferson, is shedding light on what it has been like working with the young quarterback this far and what he wants from him.
“Last year he got hurt and I just wasn’t able to really, you know, be, you know, hands on, uh, and being locked in and, you know, the play calls connecting with the receivers and uh everything else that that goes on with being a quarterback,” Jefferson told [Jason Fitz of Yahoo Sports.](https://sports.yahoo.com/video/justin-jefferson-jj-mccarthy-want-130106728.html)
“So uh I think now he’s just, you know, becoming more confident, more uh settled in, I would like to say, you know, as his teammate and, you know, just as a captain of the team, uh, just trying to, you know, just make him dial in every chance that I can and uh our lockers are right next to each other.
“So, uh, every chance that I get to talk to him about, you know, football, about any, anything, uh, that goes on.
“Outside of football, uh, just try to get to know him as much as I can cause, you know, when the season comes and, uh, whenever we’re locked in, um, I want him to be just as confident as I am of him, uh, to, to make the plays out there.”
Fans reacted to Jefferson’s words on social media.
“You never know until he has to read defenses and make quick decisions Vikings will make it easy on him in week 1, Bears have no idea, but then coaches will see film and McCarthy will have to play like an NFL QB,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“8-9 at best. Vikings fans will have the honor of watching KOC outcoached by Harbaugh this year, and I’m all for it,” someone else added.
It’ll be interesting to see how McCarthy does in his first NFL action.