Vikings-21, Browns-17
Q. Justin, this was your 36th career game with over 100 receiving yards. You're now just two behind Randy Moss for the most for a player's first six seasons. How does it feel to hear that, and how special is it to get another win in London?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, it's definitely special. That's definitely a person that growing up, I watched tremendous film on, dissected his game and a big fan of him. Just to be in that same conversation and just all the hard work that I've been doing and all the sacrifices, it definitely pays off.
As long as we get the win, that's the main thing. I can not have 100-yard game for the rest of my career. As long as we get the win and we're continuing to move forward to the main goal, which is a Super Bowl, that's all that really matters.
Q. Justin, how important did you feel like this specific win after being here the last couple of weeks was?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Oh, very important. We always think 1-0 for the week, but being in Europe for two weeks pretty much and losing last week in Ireland, a W was a must. We couldn't go home on that plane 0-2.
So just the relentlessness and just the fight that we continue to do throughout the season, but today with that adversity being here for ten days and a lot of complaints that could happen and a lot of point fingers and a lot of blaming, other things, but I feel like this team didn't flinch at all.
Of course, the adversity throughout the game and, of course, the bad plays, the good plays, but we continued to fight, and we continued to move forward.
Definitely a big shout-out to the O-line, just with their adversity and their difficulty, having to switch positions and moving everybody around, new people being in the game. So that definitely helped tremendously.
Q. Justin, Jordan obviously missed the start of the season. Comes back in, gets the game-winning touchdown today. How great has it been to have sort of your counterpart with you on the field?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Oh, wonderful. I don't get those double teams as much as normal, but I mean, he's a tremendous player. He's a great, great player.
For him to be out there, we just need him out there as much as possible, in the mix as much as possible. Even just the attention that he brings with just his route running and his ability to get in and out of the breaks, of course, his catch point, and being able just to make plays and being baller, that's definitely what I love to see.
And being a leader of the group, being the main person everybody looks at in that group, I'm just proud to say that he's one of us. We will be getting a whole bunch of different coverages and a whole bunch of different defenses going forward, but our confidence and the way we move and the way we run routes, we feel confident that we're going to get open every time.
Q. Jordan had said that he felt bad that he let the team down. I'm curious how you think that plays into the equation?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, it's a difficult situation. I definitely have my words with J, but it's just all about growing up and just being a part of the team and knowing, you know, the stakes and knowing that he's a valuable part of this team.
It's more about the team and more about just us as a whole, not focusing individually on J, but for him to come out with that going on and still being able to make plays out there and finishing the game with the touchdown to get us up, it was like it was meant to happen.
He's a great player. He's a tremendous talent. I just got to do better into keeping him under my wing and making sure that he has his head on straight.
Q. Justin, what did you learn as an offensive unit from last week that helped you get over the line today?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, to be honest, we didn't hurt ourselves as much as we did last week. Just the pre-snap penalties, just things that really shoot ourselves in the foot. We kind of limited that today a little bit, even though we still had a couple of bad plays, we had some penalties that kind of -- well, we don't like. It's just all on watching the film, learning, dissecting it and coming back after the bye better than ever.
We feel confident in the players that we have on this team and the playmakers that we have on this team to go over this hump and get to where we would like to be at.
Q. We saw you doing a little dance pregame. What do you normally do to get yourself hyped up and in the zone?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: To be honest, I don't really got to do too much. I'm always in the zone, and I'm always ready to go out there and give it my all. I mean, especially being in this stadium where there's new fans, people that never seen me play before, so I always want to give them a show and give them something to look forward to, but it's definitely great to come here in London and get a W.
Q. Just on the bounce-back mentality of this team, obviously you suffered a tough loss in Ireland last week. Did you pack it straight away given the intense schedule and say let's move on here, we have another game within a week, within seven days, the NFL rigorous schedule, or did you look over and dissect it a bit and say, This is an area to improve, or did you just pack it and then let's move to London?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: A little mixture of all, honestly. I mean, of course, we want to go to Ireland and every place that we play at, we want to get a W. That's the main objective.
Just like I said a little while ago, just the things that we did to hurt ourselves and shoot ourselves in the foot, we limited that a little bit today. I mean, just limiting that a little bit goes to show you that we can put points on the board. We're relentless as well. As long as we have time on that clock and we have people out there to keep fighting, we're going to keep balling.
Really kudos to this whole entire team for keeping their head up and not really flinching on being down late in the fourth quarter. We just continued to go, continued to drive one play at a time, and of course, getting the W is the main objective.
Q. Carson got kind of banged up at halftime. What did he show you today to come back, play, and make that drive at the end?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, he a soldier. He a soldier, for sure. That's the mentality. We didn't really expect nothing less. If he is able to go and he's able to be out there, we knew he was going to come back, but we always have confidence.
Just like I always say, we always have confidence in anybody that step out there on that field, and it's our job, especially me as a receiver, to get open and make an open target for him. But to see Wentz to come back through that adversity, feeling the pain, and he's an older guy as well -- no offense, C-Wentz, so don't get mad at me. He's an older guy as well, so for him to get knocked up like that and still wanting to go out there and still fighting, fighting through the pain, he's a tremendous player, and I'm glad that he's on this team.
Q. Justin, after your bye week you play against the Eagles who could be 6-0 when you play them in Week 7. How are you managing that task against their defense?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, I mean, we faced a great defense today. They're the No. 1 defense in the league, and we had so many injuries, so many different pieces that were missing from the puzzle, but we didn't flinch at all.
We have confidence in the guys that we bring out there on that field to make everything shake, and we'll continue to do that. Of course, looking at the film, seeing the bad things that we done, trying to fix it up, trying to be clean all around, but you know, we always look forward to the challenge.
Of course, being at home, being back at home with those fans, I mean, we're ready. We're ready, for sure. For this bye week getting our body right mentally, physically, and then being ready to come that next week to, you know, put pain on Philly.
Q. Can I ask you, Kevin talked about team identity before. What do you think this team's identity is?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Shoot, we still looking for it, but what I can say is there's a lot of character traits about this team that are phenomenal, and I'm very, very happy to be a part of it.
Of course, being with everybody and in the mix, the characters that we have on this team it's definitely great to be a part of. Of course, being here for ten days and just bonding with everyone and spending that extra time communicating and connecting with each other, it definitely was a great trip, even though it was very long and a little tiring, but it was just great for everybody to come together through adversity, through the difficulty of being in Europe and a whole different environment, atmosphere, and to come out with this W today was very, very big.
Q. A lot has been made about quarterback receiver chemistry. Over your six-year career, you've caught passes from eight different quarterbacks, some of whom you didn't even know were going to be playing, and you caught passes from them. How do you develop chemistry along the variable timelines with quarterbacks you may never have played with before?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, it's tough. It's very, very hard, especially just like you said, if there's a quarterback that it's not really meant to play that game and he comes in and having to play for us, at that moment it's just all about getting open and being that open target for him.
That's kind of something I always stress on myself and put on myself, especially if they're playing me man-to-man and giving me an opportunity to win against one person. My job is to go out there and get open and make plays. That's the main thing.
It's all about going out there and making plays. Being doubled, being tripled, single coverage, it doesn't matter, and it doesn't matter who is throwing that ball. 18 is going to go out there and make a play.
Q. What's that conversation look like when you go back on the sideline or in the huddle with a quarterback, maybe there was a miscommunication on what they're looking for from you?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, it's just all about just having that communication and coming to the sideline, Hey, this is what we're looking at, this is what it is, and going off of that.
It's not really too difficult, and I'm definitely not somebody that can't come and talk to. I'll even go over there and talk to them as well. Just having that connection and being vocal is the main point.
Q. Justin, can you talk to us about the atmosphere in today's game? It seemed to be a lot of Vikings jerseys.
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yes, there did.
Q. Were you surprised by that at all?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: No, definitely not surprised. Being here for the third time, we kind of have a history of bringing a lot of Vikings fans over here. I'm pretty sure they like it over here as well.
But just to see the energy, to see the "Skol" chant all around the stadium, our fans are the best in the league, and they always show support, always show us love, and always are into the game no matter, you know, what the score is and no matter if we're losing late in the game. They're going to still, you know, cheer and still root for us like it's the first quarter with 0-0 on the board.
So it's definitely great to hear those fans. I mean, I couldn't even think that it was an away game. I thought it was a home game for us (laughing).
Q. Are you feeling any feelings between the game last week and long game this week, the atmosphere of the fans?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, for sure. We definitely brought a lot more Vikings fans to London than to Ireland. Still was a great atmosphere. Still was very fun playing in Ireland, but something about London our fans are attracted to.
Q. Over 100 yards against the best defense in the league right now. The Browns' defensive backs are a very competitive group. Is there any game week that you go in without the ultimate confidence that you can go out there and dominate on the field?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: No, not at all. Especially watching the film and seeing the type of defense that they are, we knew that we were going to have those opportunities and getting those one-on-one coverages and those one-on-one opportunities.
It's just all about making the most of those opportunities. I always love and feed off of those man-to-man coverages. I've been getting doubled a lot these past two, three years, so it's always great to go against one person and being able to really be effective in the game.
Q. How does this playing surface compare to some of the ones you play on back home?
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, we call it a speed track. You know, it's pretty much thinner than normal, than what we're used to. I love it. It makes you run faster. It makes you look like you got a little extra speed on you, but I mean, it really doesn't matter about the surface.
It's just all about your technique and your footwork and getting in and out of your breaks. I will never blame the turf or the surface.
Q. Just a quick word on what you saw of Dillon Gabriel's first NFL start.
JUSTIN JEFFERSON: Yeah, I mean, I feel like he played very, ver well. To be in his first start and especially going against our defense, it's very difficult. So for him to come in and play a game like this in a different environment, not at home, so he definitely played a great game. I'm looking forward to seeing what he has coming up and how they use him.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports