Justin Jefferson Defends Kirk Cousins: "He’s The Reason Why I Had 1,400 Yards"

The Vikings' star receiver pushed back against some of the criticism Cousins receives.

Despite the statistics showing that Kirk Cousins has been a top ten quarterback in each of the past two seasons, the Vikings' QB can't seem to overcome the narratives surrounding his career. Whether it's from casual NFL fans on Twitter or even media personalities, Cousins seems to receive an endless stream of criticism. There are these ideas out there, not based in any sort of fact, that Cousins can't deliver in big moments, that he's overpaid, and that's he's holding the Vikings back.

Frankly, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Cousins is far from a perfect QB, but the numbers don't lie. He has overcome slow starts and played extremely well down the stretch over the past two seasons, his contract is in line with the market rate for a veteran QB of his talents, and he was far from the Vikings' biggest issue in 2020.

Regardless of what he may say, Cousins sees the criticism. And so do his teammates. Wide receiver Justin Jefferson went on the Jim Rome Show this week and was asked about all the heat Cousins takes. Here's what Jefferson had to say in defense of his quarterback.

“He definitely takes a lot of heat, he takes way more heat than he really deserves," Jefferson said. "If you look at the numbers, he’s top of the league. He’s been doing a lot of things for this team and for this offense. I don’t really understand why he gets so much criticism. All of those losses that we had wasn’t on him. Of course, we would like to take some plays back and redo some plays but that’s just how it is. You don’t play perfectly, especially in this league, and to see the things that he has done I really don’t know why he gets so much criticism. He’s the reason why I had 1,400 yards."

Something tells me we should value Jefferson's words more than those of people on Twitter who probably didn't watch many Vikings games this season.

Here's video of the segment, which also includes Jefferson talking about Adam Thielen hitting the Griddy.

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