Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson made one of the best plays of the 2022 season when he went up over coverage to secure a fourth-down pass from Kirk Cousins with one hand in a win over the Bills and he would have liked a chance to make another highlight reel play on the Vikings’ final offensive snap of the season.
On a fourth-and-eight with the Vikings down 31-24 to the Giants in the Wild Card round, Cousins opted to throw short of the sticks to tight end T.J. Hockenson and the Giants brought him down short of the markers to secure a win. Cousins, who was pressured by Dexter Lawrence on the play, said after the game that he “didn’t feel good about putting it up to Justin” because of how much attention the Giants were giving him.
That play came up during Jefferson’s visit to PFT Live on Thursday and Jefferson said “of course they were going to double me,” but said that he still hoped that he would have had a chance to make a play when a first down was the only outcome that would have kept the Vikings’ season alive.
“Many moments where Kirk gave me that type of ball and I was able to go up and grab it,” Jefferson said. “I definitely felt in that moment that I wanted him to do it. Of course, the best receiver on the field, the best player on the field, I felt like should have got the ball. It is what it is. I wasn’t mad about, I wasn’t hurt about it. . . . I was double teamed. It’s a tough throw to make. I wasn’t tripping on it, but of course I would have wanted that opportunity.”
Jefferson will have to wait a while before his next opportunity to make a similar play and the reaction to how things went down last month probably makes it likelier that the Vikings are going to look his way when it does.