Justin Jefferson indicates he's not happy with his performance in 2025

Jefferson, who has set a ridiculously high bar, wants to get back to his peak production.

Nov 9, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) warms up before the game against the Baltimore Ravens at U.S. Bank Stadium. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Through nine games, Justin Jefferson's 2025 season has not lived up to his uniquely high standards. He's off to the slowest statistical start of his six-year career and is coming off of one of his worst NFL performances in last week's loss to the Ravens.

Jefferson, who is the ultimate competitor, is well aware of how things are going. On Thursday, which is the three-year anniversary of the signature play of Jefferson's career, the Vikings' superstar wide receiver posted a simple message on his Instagram story.

"I need to get back to year3 Jets," he wrote over a video of his all-time great one-handed catch against the Bills on Nov. 13, 2022.

#Vikings WR Justin Jefferson via IG:

“I need to get back to year3 Jets.” pic.twitter.com/ZphGoM6M86

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) November 13, 2025

That 2022 season, the Vikings' first under Kevin O'Connell, saw Jefferson at the absolute peak of his powers. He caught 128 passes for 1,809 yards — the sixth-highest single-season total in league history — and scored nine total touchdowns. Jefferson won Offensive Player of the Year and finished fifth in MVP voting.

Jefferson's 94.4 receiving yards per game in his career are an all-time NFL record. He's finished with at least 1,400 yards in every healthy season of his career, and he still got to over 1,000 in 2023 despite playing only eight full games due to injury. He has shattered records and been remarkably consistent with his dominance across several different quarterbacks, which is why this year has stood out as an aberration.

To be clear, it's not like Jefferson is having a bad season. He's eighth in the league with 686 receiving yards, putting him on pace to finish with around 1,300. For almost every receiver, that's a great year. Jefferson has just set such a uniquely high bar that a healthy 1,300-yard season would be a disappointment.

3 years later & this @JJettas2 catch is still crazy 😳 pic.twitter.com/l9Mqj7tF66

— NFL (@NFL) November 13, 2025

Jefferson has put up big numbers with Kirk Cousins, Nick Mullens, Sam Darnold, and Carson Wentz at quarterback, but he and J.J. McCarthy have yet to find that same success. In McCarthy's four starts, Jefferson has just 17 catches on 34 targets for 209 yards and two touchdowns. Much of that has been caused by McCarthy's inconsistent accuracy in his first few games. But in last week's game against Baltimore, there were opportunities for Jefferson that he typically takes advantage of.

Both of McCarthy's interceptions came on deep balls to Jefferson. The first one would've probably required a 2022 Bills-like catch, but it was a bit odd to see him not even attempt to make a play. On the second one, he wasn't as crisp on his route as you'd expect, and his feet got tangled up with Marlon Humphrey for an easy Ravens pick. That was followed by a very surprising lack of effort from Jefferson during Humphrey's return. He also dropped a potential 25-yard touchdown on a well-placed strike from McCarthy late in the third quarter.

Thursday's social media post from Jefferson — "I need to get back to year3 Jets" — doesn't come across as someone who is blaming McCarthy or frustrated with others for his relative lack of production this year. It sounds like a team captain and leader who knows that he hasn't been playing at his usual elite level, and wants to get back to doing so.

The Vikings could certainly use a 2022 Jefferson type of performance this week in a must-win game against the Bears.

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