After J.J. McCarthy’s season-ending knee surgery, Sam Darnold is set to go through the 2024 season as Minnesota’s starting quarterback.
That’s just fine with star receiver Justin Jefferson, who signed a record-breaking contract extension with the club during the offseason.
In an interview with Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star Tribune, Jefferson noted his confidence in Darnold since the two have been connecting throughout the summer — particularly in the red zone.
“Those are the money-makers there,” Jefferson said. “That’s somewhere we’ve been struggling the previous year. The plays he’s making [in practices] are definitely going to transition to Sundays.”
While Jefferson certainly had a connection with now-Falcons starting quarterback Kirk Cousins, he wants whoever is throwing him the ball now to have a greater sense of comfort that he will come down with it in any circumstance.
”It’s going to be different,” Jefferson said. “But I want it to be the same for them to have the confidence in me to go and make a play, just like Kirk did in those opportunities and those situations. I low-key want them to have more confidence than what Kirk had. Kirk is more comfortable in the system, [with] him running it early on in Washington. It’s just to give them an extra boost and extra confidence; I want to go up and make a play for them whenever they give me the chance.”
“I just try to give the quarterbacks confidence to throw me those 50-50 jump balls,” Jefferson added. “Sometimes, it’s a little bit difficult for them to really just give me a chance, knowing I’m going to come down with it. It’s difficult trying to read the different schemes and their normal reads. But when I have that matchup or they see it’s that type of game, I always try to give them that word in the back of their head, that they have me as an option if things get ugly.”
Jefferson, 25, has caught 392 passes for 5,899 yards with 30 touchdowns in his four seasons. Despite playing just 10 games last year, he finished with 68 catches, 1,074 yards, and five touchdowns.