'Man, he just keeps catching it': The role of toughness in Vikings receivers' success
EAGAN — Safety Jordan Whitehead saw Justin Jefferson cutting over the middle of the field and knew he’d have a chance to lay down some punishment.
Kirk Cousins fired the ball into traffic, hitting Jefferson in the hands at the same time that Whitehead was lowering the boom. You could hear the collision from the press box. Jefferson went flying back and tumbled five yards.
Without hesitation, Jefferson barrel rolled right into his signature first down signal.
He loves nothing more than popping back up after a big hit.
“I feel like it lowers the confidence of the [defensive back] that hits me, thinking that they got a good lick on me and I get up and put my first down [signal],” Jefferson said. “Throughout the game [the defender] was like, ‘Man, he just keeps catching it, I’m hitting him but he keeps catching it.’ It’s definitely a confidence booster catching those types of balls and getting up after that type of hit and still going.”
“I think it just speaks to his competitive nature,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said.
In the game within the game between receivers and defensive backs, every possible edge matters, even the psychological element of letting the opponent know the hits aren’t having any impact.
“If you lay there like, ‘Ahhhh, I’m hurt,’ and you’re grabbing something, I’ve had experiences where they start talking smack,” Adam Thielen said. “Whereas, if I pop up and I start talking smack, they’re like, ‘Maybe I didn’t hit him that hard.’ So there’s been a few instances where it hurt, it did not feel good, but you pop right up and get in their face and make them know that they’re not tough.”
You can debate all day long about the existence of momentum in sports but Jefferson’s pop-up after the Whitehead hit had the Vikings’ sideline jumping up and down and teammates hustling up for the next play.
“It gives you and the offense confidence,” receiver Jalen Reagor said. “It’s always a good look if you do pop up. It’s like, ‘OK he’s good,” because you might see the hit and you’re like, ‘Ohhhh.’”
In general, the toughness of wide receivers has faded from the discussion over the last decade because rule changes have made it much safer for them to go over the middle. Whitehead got flagged and fined for his hit on Jefferson, after all. And common sense observers had a difficult time figuring out exactly what the safety did wrong.
But that doesn’t mean all of the sandpaper has been taken out of the position.
“Even when they throw the penalty flag as they have a few times on some of those hits, they still take place and you’ve still got to be willing to [take hits],” O’Connell said.
The Vikings’ head coach said that the fact that Jefferson brings toughness to his game is necessary for him being used as a complete, all-around receiver.
“His quarterback’s going to trust him in a lot of situations,” O’Connell said. “One of the things that’s come up is in the attempt to give Justin the full route tree from a lot of different spots — he’s running in-breaking, out-breaking, vertical routes, underneath routes — everything that we do with him out there, a lot of people have eyes on him.”
In terms of catching the ball over the middle, it’s all about mindset.
“I’m going to get hit either way,” Thielen said. “There are times where you flinch or shy away and drop the ball and you’re like, ‘Why did I do that? I just got smacked anyway.’ You learn from experience that I’m just going to take this hit and get the first down and pop up.”
The numbers back up Jefferson and Thielen’s ability to dominate the middle of the field. Per PFF, when throwing between 10-19 yards into the middle, Kirk Cousins has gone 25-for-33 with 380 yards and three touchdowns when targeting either of his top two receivers.
For Reagor, grit at the receiver position is about creating yards after catch. He said that receiver’s coach Keenan McCardell calls receivers who step out of bounds before contact “poodles.” When it comes to the end of the play, he prefers to be dolling out the big hits rather than taking them.
“I try to make you miss but if I have to run you over, I will,” Reagor said. “I pride myself on not being tackled on first contact. If I do get hit, I drive you a little farther.”
Whether it’s an illegal hit on a throw over the middle or slamming into a defender to stay in bounds, the Vikings’ receivers find it to be important that they never let the defense think they’re getting to them with physical play.
“When you get hit, pop up as fast as possible so they don’t get any joy out of smacking you,” Thielen said.
