There's one thing Justin Jefferson is still playing for this season for Vikings

Billy Heyen

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There's one thing Justin Jefferson is still playing for this season for Vikings image

This hasn't been the season anyone involved with the Minnesota Vikings would've envisioned.

That includes Justin Jefferson, the superstar wide receiver who has had a remarkably quiet second half to the campaign.

With two games left, and no type of playoff goals to reach, there's really just one thing Jefferson has left to go after: 1,000 yards.

ESPN's Kevin Seifert wrote this week that it's a real goal for Jefferson, who has 917 with two games to go.

"The Vikings will make an effort to ensure that wide receiver Justin Jefferson eclipses 1,000 receiving yards for the season, a sentence that might seem preposterous but is in fact very real," Seifert writes. "The only other season that Jefferson hasn't been well over 1,000 yards by Week 17 was 2023, when he missed seven games because of a torn hamstring. But the Vikings' struggles at quarterback, and Jefferson's own surprising lapses, have left him at 917 yards in 15 games. That leaves him 83 yards short, or an average of 41.5 yards per game. It's very doable, but it's worth noting that Jefferson has had fewer than 41 yards in four of his past seven games."

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At least this week, Jefferson will have to do it with a third-string quarterback.

With Carson Wentz out for the season and J.J. McCarthy out with an injury to his throwing hand, undrafted rookie Max Brosmer will be the quarterback during the Thursday Christmas action against the Lions.

Brosmer's first start was preposterously bad against the Seahawks. Minnesota will have to hope he's at least learned from that and can give them some competent QB play. Jefferson will be hoping for the same thing, at least a handful of catchable footballs thrown his way.

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