Ahead of the Minnesota Vikings’ showdown with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Justin Jefferson didn’t take much away from the reigning NFC champs’ gameplan to defend Garrett Wilson in Week 1.
Jefferson said “respectfully, I’m not Garrett Wilson” when asked if he learned anything from watching Monday night’s game between the 49ers and New York Jets because “teams play me totally different.”
Wilson’s box score against the 49ers doesn’t immediately stand out with six catches for 60 yards. When you factor in how few plays the Jets ran, it looks a lot better. New York only ran 49 plays in that game, the third-fewest for any team in Week 1.
Aaron Rodgers targeted Wilson 10 times on his 21 pass attempts (47.6 percent). It wouldn’t be a surprise if Jefferson sees a similar target share this week, especially since Jordan Addison has already been ruled out due to an ankle injury.
T.J. Hockenson is also out of action as he recovers from a torn ACL and MCL suffered in a Week 16 loss to the Detroit Lions last season.
When the 49ers and Vikings met in Week 7 last year, Jefferson was unable to play due to a hamstring injury. Addison had his best game of the season with 123 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions.
Sam Darnold had a terrific debut as Minnesota’s starting quarterback last week. He completed his first 12 passes en route to finishing 19-of-24 for 208 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in a 28-6 win over the New York Giants.
Jefferson didn’t have a great game because Darnold was able to spread the ball around. He only had four receptions for 59 yards and one touchdown on six targets. Eight different players caught a pass for the Vikings in Week 1.
The 49ers’ defense figures to pose more problems for the Vikings. They held the Jets to 266 total yards, including just 68 on the ground. They gave up at least 100 rushing yards in each of their last four games last season, including the playoffs.
Don’t be surprised if Darnold is peppering Jefferson in an attempt to keep pace with the 49ers in a game that figures to be high scoring given the amount of offensive talent for both teams.