EAGAN, Minn. — Justin Jefferson's pink cleats heeled the left hash at the Vikings 23.
On a second-and-1 from Minnesota's 31, at the 11:11 timestamp in the first quarter Sunday in London, the global superstar relaxed his money-makers, adorned with matching pink gloves, on top of his knees and lowered into a quarter squat, 6 yards behind quarterback Carson Wentz in an under-center stance.
As soon as Minnesota's fill-in center Blake Brandel (subbing for starter Ryan Kelly and backup Michael Jurgens) hiked the ball, the Vikings top receiver exploded from a standstill to his right, mirroring a running back on a stretch run play. Jefferson didn't take a handoff, though; he accelerated into the flat.
Meanwhile …
Wentz play-faked to Jordan Mason, who was aligned in an offset I-formation, half-rolled to Jefferson's side and then flicked the ball to his untraditional running back, so to speak. It was a completion for 11.
Maybe the easiest 11 yards of Jefferson's 7,881 so far.
"I probably caught the [Vikings] coaches off guard a little bit in the moment with that," Head Coach Kevin O'Connell offered Monday, explaining he pulled the play from a different section of the call sheet.
From a play-calling perspective, O'Connell expressed his awareness of the "risk-reward proposition" Cleveland's defense presents, and so he weighed pushing the ball downfield against trying for a first down via the run game or dialing up an unusual look. Ultimately, he chose the latter.