Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse at quarterback for wide receiver Justin Jefferson and the Vikings, they did.
With J.J. McCarthy sidelined in concussion protocol, Minnesota turned to undrafted rookie Max Brosmer to make his first career start Sunday against the Seahawks at Lumen Field. Battling the Seahawks’ defense has been a tough task for any quarterback this season, but for an inexperienced 24-year-old who played just one season at the FBS level, it looked like a near impossible task.
Brosmer threw for 126 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions on 19-of-30 passing, adding up to a dismal 32.8 passer rating in the Vikings’ 26–0 loss. It was the encore to McCarthy’s dud the previous week in Minnesota’s 23–6 loss to the Packers in which he threw for just 87 yards and two interceptions on 12-of-19 passing.
Justin Jefferson, arguably the best wide receiver in all of football, finished the game with two receptions for a career-low four yards on six targets. In the fourth quarter, the Fox Sports broadcast showed Jefferson sitting alone on the Vikings’ bench with a towel on his face, looking beyond frustrated as his team was getting shut out.
Justin Jefferson had 2 receptions for 4 yards today🧍♂️ pic.twitter.com/z5dJBkB85t
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 1, 2025
After the game, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis noted that Jefferson left the locker room and did not speak with the media, the first time he has done so in at least four years.
The Vikings say Justin Jefferson declined to speak. First time that's happened since I arrived in 2022. https://t.co/tC2gIOhNeK
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) December 1, 2025
Of course, nobody would blame Jefferson for being frustrated. Jefferson has failed to log over 50 receiving yards in three of his last four games, and although there have been a couple of uncharacteristic drops in that span, it largely has fallen on the poor quarterback play.
Carson Wentz didn’t look great as the Vikings’ starter before undergoing season-ending surgery, but in his five starts, Jefferson averaged 6.8 receptions on 95.4 yards per game. In the Vikings’ other seven games—six started by McCarthy and one by Brosmer—Jefferson averaged four catches for 46 yards.
For the record, Jefferson has said all the right things all year. He has repeatedly defended McCarthy from critics during interviews—and did so as recently as this week when the second-year quarterback had a historically bad performance against Green Bay. Jefferson also talked up Brosmer leading up to his NFL debut.
But on Sunday, Jefferson’s quarterback couldn’t get him the ball while his quarterback from last year, Sam Darnold, conducted the Seahawks’ offense to its ninth win this season.
That’s hard for any receiver to swallow, especially one of the NFL’s best.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Justin Jefferson Appears Very Frustrated As Vikings’ QB Woes Continue.
