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After losing longtime QB Kirk Cousins via free agency, the Minnesota Vikings have major shoes to fill at QB.
Cousins took snaps as the team’s starter for six seasons, making Pro Bowls in three of them and leading the Vikings to the postseason twice. Cousins’ consistency in Minnesota netted him a huge payday in Atlanta and left the Vikes with a trio of unproven signal-callers.
But the team’s best player, star receiver Justin Jefferson, is reportedly “excited” about the opportunity to mentor a greenhorn starter, and the Vikings’ QB conundrum has not dissuaded him from potentially signing a long-term deal. (Jefferson is entering the final year of his four-year contract.)
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“Needing to know and being a part of a collaborative process, which Justin is, are two different things,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “I’ve felt very strongly about keeping him informed. He’s been in the loop. He’s been aware. He’s allowed to articulate things to me via our relationship, and that’s really been through this whole process.”
Jefferson was a proponent of keeping Cousins around, but he didn’t go as far as demanding it from the team brass.
“Look, the things that Kirk and Justin were able to do over these last couple years, that’s what I can speak to,” O’Connell said. “Having been here with those guys when they’ve played together, they’ve done a lot of really special things and that’s not lost on me and that’s not lost on Justin. But Justin … did step into a leadership role last year. He became a first-time captain. I think he’s excited about that, what that means for him moving forward, really being a pillar of leadership in our organization and that’s how I treat him.
“That’s how our conversations and our communication go, and I think the quarterback position, the path that we’re going to go, I think…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/minnesota-vikings-keeping-justin-jefferson-in-the-loop-on-qb-plans
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Publish date : 2024-03-26 00:25:00
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