It's a strange and uneasy time for the Minnesota Vikings. They're coming off a disappointing season, and they just fired their general manager after he was scouting players for them at the Senior Bowl.
There's also the unsettled matter at quarterback, with J.J. McCarthy coming off an injury-marred and ineffective first season as starter. Meanwhile, the man he replaced, Sam Darnold, is gunning for a Super Bowl on Sunday. Just last week, in fact, star Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson suggested that the Vikings would have had a better season had Darnold started instead of McCarthy.
Does Jefferson still support McCarthy? Speaking with Kay Adams on Wednesday ahead of Super Bowl LX, Jefferson said the way things stand now, McCarthy is his quarterback and he'll be supportive of him.
"As of right now, J.J. is my quarterback," Jefferson said on Up and Adams. "So for me, it's getting him to where we need to go. It starts off right now in the offseason and getting better now."
Jefferson spoke well enough about McCarthy, saying he's "done very good things" and can improve.
"Obviously, it wasn't the most spectacular thing. Those are things that he understands and we all understand as a building, that there are some things to work on," Jefferson said. "But J.J. is a really good quarterback. He's a really good guy personally to sit there and talk to. He's a really good leader and great motivator."
Asked what needs to change, Jefferson said "that's a question they don't pay me enough to answer" before saying he can hold himself to a higher standard.
"In order for me to change in my shoes, I've gotta hold the people around me accountable, which is, of course, carrying J.J. and (getting in) some more workouts and getting that connection down," Jefferson said. He added that he needs to "hold some type of accountability" for the situation to be successful.
The Vikings are likely to add competition for McCarthy this offseason. Jefferson said he won't go to management and make demands about which quarterback will join him. All he wants is for that quarterback -- or McCarthy -- to do his job.
"I don't care," Jefferson said. "That's not my decision. That's not my main priority, and I've said that multiple times. I don't really care who's throwing that ball. But the person that's throwing that ball needs to throw that ball and needs to lead us to that big dance at the end of the season."
