3. Not on the stat sheet
For the fourth time in five games with McCarthy at quarterback, record-setting WR Justin Jefferson converted less than 60 percent of his targets into receptions, well below his career average catch rate of 67%.
Jefferson finished Week 11, the same day he passed Torry Holt for the second-most receiving yards by a player in his first six NFL seasons, with five catches on nine targets for 61 yards (12.2 avg.) and a long gain of 27. His biggest impact, however, eluded the box score. It happened with 12:38 remaining in the game.
On a second-and-2 at the Bears 16, and the Vikings trailing by 13, Jefferson fired out of his stance and laid an impressive block on safety Kevin Byard III, who intercepted McCarthy earlier in the afternoon on a play where Jets was the intended receiver. The contact effectively removed Byard from the mix, created a lane for RB Jordan Mason to burst through and resulted in Minnesota's first touchdown of the game.
"That's Justin Jefferson," O'Connell said. "He's the reason why we score on the play. And he didn't catch it. He didn't walk the ball over the goal line himself, but he's certainly, in that moment – no matter what the perception of his frustration might be – that's the player that I know we're getting on every snap.
"He is willing to do whatever it takes to win a game, and it's evident with what he's putting on tape," O'Connell continued, before offering insights into his conversations with Jets. "[Speaking] with him, it's more so, Justin is our franchise player, he is a guy that has assumed such a role in this organization that he understands the value of his work preparation throughout the week, what he brings to our team from an energy standpoint, and I'll never fault him for the competitive drive he has to help his team win. And I think that's the biggest thing that comes out of it in my dialogue with him – and we talk a lot. And our relationship is as strong as ever because I lean on him in many, many ways, in regard to helping to shape and guide our football team, especially when you've got a young quarterback, and he knows a lot of the factors that can create throughout the ebbs and flows of the season. He's been phenomenal."