Exclusive: Cris Carter drops bombshell revelation on Justin Jefferson’s true feelings about J.J. McCarthy

Cris Carter knows that the chemistry between J.J. McCarthy and Justin Jefferson is a work in progress.

McCarthy and Jefferson have struggled to be on the same page all season long as the young quarterback goes through his first season as the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings. During the Vikings’ 16-13 win over the New York Giants, McCarthy and Jefferson finally showed some signs of life prior to McCarthy exiting the game with a right hand injury at the end of the first half.

Jefferson caught four passes for 57 yards in the first half alone before finishing the game with six catches for 85 receiving yards, leading the Vikings in both categories. It was Jefferson’s most productive game since Week 8, when he caught seven passes for 74 receiving yards. That was when Carson Wentz was serving as the starting quarterback.

“They’ve just been one step, one fingertip off all year,” said Carter in a one-on-one interview about their chemistry together. “That’s why it’s such a partnership between the quarterback. I don’t expect him to hit me on my numbers in my face mask every play. I’m gonna make some catches even though he’s trying to throw the ball out of bounds. And then he’s gonna have to throw it in traffic — I might go in there and catch it. We have a partnership together. This is where you see the partnership, if each person is not holding their own weight.”

The Vikings great has been critical of McCarthy’s play, noticing that the offense has been bogged down due to the limitations of the 2024 first-round draft pick. What was previously known as a passing-centric offense led by head coach Kevin O’Connell and veteran quarterbacks such as Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold is now among the league’s worst passing attacks.

Despite featuring one of the best offensive supporting casts, the Vikings rank 26th in scoring and 28th in passing yards. McCarthy’s play has been slightly better as of late, with Minnesota winning their past three games. However, he still ranks at the bottom of the league in passer rating (71.2).

Carter says Jefferson is well aware of what’s going on with McCarthy’s limitations, but he has such a “maturity” about him and a great relationship with O’Connell. It’s the reason why he hasn’t made it public about his frustrations with his lack of targets.

“The thing about Justin is that he is more mature, and he does have $140 million reasons why,” said Carter. “But he is in such a partnership with Kevin O’Connell, and they meet on a regular basis, just like he meets with the quarterbacks as far as what the franchise is doing, what type of players do we need to make some type of adjustment, how you’re doing.

“For me, when we’ve had a lot of hotheads at wide receiver, I’m telling you, this is one of the best things I’ve seen Justin Jefferson do. Besides his footwork, his route run, his big playability, his maturity in this situation — and helping that quarterback and not telling the truth — which is not part of the wide receiver DNA, it’s been exceptional.”

Carter — who has a close relationship with Jefferson and the Vikings — says McCarthy’s struggles were expected considering his lack of reps and injuries early on in his career.

“We knew this was coming,” said Carter of McCarthy’s struggles. “We knew that he had been spoiled. But the connection with Kevin O’Connell, we didn’t think that the offseason, or the season last year, he was going to miss as many reps, quarterback reps. Because he couldn’t get on the field because he had one knee procedure, and he had to have another one to go correct some other things.”

Carter, who is a Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver and finished the 1990s with the second-most receptions behind Jerry Rice, continued to give major props to Jefferson for how he has handled the whole situation on and off the field.

“He is the most successful receiver in the history of the NFL in his tenure, his first five years in the league, yards,” said Carter of Jefferson. “You talk about consistency. He is a worker mule. He’s gonna get you 100 yards every game.”

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