Justin Jefferson is entering his seventh season in the NFL.
The Minnesota Vikings’ star wide receiver says the fire within him burns as bright as it ever has. He will aim for a fast start to the season when he and the Vikings host the divisional rival Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
“I just try to be the best version of myself,” Jefferson said recently. “Obviously, I want to win. I want to get to the Super Bowl, do things that we’ve all dreamt of as little kids. I’m just taking it one day at a time, but it’s definitely crazy. Time is flying by. Seven years in the league is insane.
“I definitely didn’t think that I was going to be able to be a vet, be a guy that people look up to and one of the faces of this league. It’s pretty cool.”
The Vikings and Packers will waste no time getting to the important part of their schedule. The winner gets a jumpstart in what figures to be a highly competitive NFC North.
Green Bay is coming off a 9-7-1 campaign in 2025. The Packers earned a playoff bid but lost in the wild-card round against the Chicago Bears.
The coach-quarterback duo returns to Green Bay, where Matt LaFleur will design the offense and Jordan Love will operate it on the field. Love posted a 101.2 passer rating in his third full season as a starter, and he passed for 23 touchdowns and six interceptions in 15 games.
Veteran wide receiver Romeo Doubs is gone and running back Josh Jacobs is unavailable because he is on the commissioner’s exempt list. But Love still has plenty of talented playmakers around him. Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden and Tucker Kraft are healthy and looking to wear down opposing defenses with their depth.
“It’ll be big time,” Watson said. “It really just comes down to us making plays when our number’s called and making defenses play stuff a little bit more true. So I’m excited for this group to be out there, and I think the sky’s the limit.”
The Vikings will try to spoil the Packers’ good vibes. Minnesota finished 9-8 last season but missed the playoffs for the second time in four years under coach Kevin O’Connell.
O’Connell is back to lead the team and guide the quarterbacks, and this season he has put his trust in a new starter. Kyler Murray joins Minnesota after spending his first seven seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.
Veteran Carson Wentz will serve as Murray’s primary backup in Week 1, and former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy has dropped all the way to the role of emergency No. 3 quarterback.
Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. said he appreciated Murray’s leadership style and looked forward to playing this season with him. Murray is more of a quiet leader but has connected with his teammates without relying on rah-rah tactics.
“He has a different way of leading,” Jones said. “He’ll come and wrap his arms around you on the side, give you some words or get on the same page, different things like that. It may not be (a fiery speech) to everybody, but he’s making sure he gets his words into each and everybody, one by one. You get a little bit more of a personal relationship like that.”
On defense, Vikings safety Harrison Smith will return for his 15th season after a late decision to rejoin the team. He will anchor a unit overseen by defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
The Packers will be without top pass rusher Micah Parsons, who will miss the early part of the season with a knee injury. Packers safety Xavier McKinney is healthy and will serve a key role in the defensive backfield.