Justin Jefferson on Viral Clip: "I Ain't No Diva, Don't Get it Twisted"

The Vikings' star rookie receiver broke a record held by Randy Moss and made it clear that he's not a "diva."

Late in the second quarter of their loss to the Bears, the Vikings trailed 20 to 7 but were on the doorstep of scoring an important touchdown before halftime. Facing a second and goal from the Chicago six yard-line, Kirk Cousins rolled to his left and eventually heaved a pass up for Justin Jefferson, who couldn't quite come down with a spectacular one-handed catch.

With no fans in the stadium, the field microphones are able to pick up more sound than usual. And on that play, the mics caught Jefferson saying what sounded like "F***, Kirk! Come on, throw the ball!" It also sort of sounds like Jefferson says "throw the flag," but the first two words he yelled are very clear. Unsurprisingly, the moment went viral on Twitter.

Justin Jefferson: “FUCK, Kirk! Comeon! Throw the ball!” pic.twitter.com/Oq9gAhPytT

— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) December 20, 2020

Given everything that has happened over the previous couple seasons, with both Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs showing visible frustration with Cousins at times, it was reasonable to be worried about Jefferson's reaction on that play. Was this an example of another star receiver starting to turn on Cousins? For the record, I think that's a major overreaction, but I can understand why that would be the thought process for some fans.

Just in case there was any confusion, Jefferson took to Twitter after the game to clear things up. "Y’all love blowing stuff out of proportion," he tweeted. "And I ain’t no diva, don’t get it twisted."

😂😂😂😂y’all love blowing stuff out off proportion. And I ain’t no diva don’t get it twisted. https://t.co/SfVo6quwpr

— JJETS✈️ (@JJettas2) December 20, 2020

It's unclear if the tweet was intended to throw any shade at Diggs, Jefferson's predecessor in Minnesota who forced a trade last offseason due to unhappiness with the Vikings' offensive philosophy. What is clear is that Jefferson isn't anywhere close to wanting to be traded. It was simply a moment of frustration in a game that summed up the team's disappointing 2020 season.

"I was working inside on an under route and it got mashed and went to my left and was playing off schedule at that point," Cousins said of the play. "Was trying to find anybody I could and kind of tried to throw it high and safe to Justin because with the traffic patterns I wasn’t sure where the defense was going. Put it in kind of an 'ours or nobody’s' spot and it ended up being nobody’s."

The play did produce this incredible photograph from Brad Rempel of USA Today Sports, even if Jefferson wasn't actually able to come down with the catch.

This is a good breakdown of the play in question and the one prior to it that explains what Jefferson was frustrated about:

Quick breakdown of the real reason Jefferson yelled, "Fuck, Kirk, throw the Flag" in the video that went viral during the game yesterday (no, there is not a rift in the team, just some natural frustration).

🔊 pic.twitter.com/IQwhia0mY3

— Matt Fries (@FriesFootball) December 21, 2020

One play later, Irv Smith Jr. dropped a pass in the end zone and the Vikings were forced to settle for a field goal. That was one of two instances where the offense got inside of the Bears' ten yard-line and was forced to settle for three points instead of seven, which proved costly in a six-point loss.

Despite being unable to connect on a couple targets in the end zone, Cousins and Jefferson had another productive day. The rookie sensation caught eight of his 11 targets for 104 yards on the afternoon, giving him six games of 100-plus yards in just 12 career starts. The only other players in Vikings history with six games of 100 receiving yards in a season are Adam Thielen, Randy Moss (four times), and Cris Carter. Thielen holds the record with nine such games in 2018.

Jefferson hit a major milestone against the Bears. He is up to 73 catches on the season, breaking Moss's rookie record of 69 receptions in 1998. Next up is Moss's yardage record. With 1,182 yards, Jefferson needs 132 yards over the season's final two games to break Moss's franchise rookie record of 1,313. Jefferson would need 196 yards over that span to break Anquan Boldin's Super Bowl era NFL record of 1,377 receiving yards as a rookie.

The LSU product continues to have a special season, even though the Vikings have bumbled to a 6-8 record that will almost certainly keep them out of the playoffs. If you're looking for reasons to be optimistic about this franchise in 2021, Jefferson is right at the top of that list.

The 21-year-old is not only extremely talented, he also pointed out on social media that he has no plans to follow in Diggs' footsteps by forcing his way out of Minnesota. Jefferson plays with a lot of passion and emotion, as does Diggs, but he's happy with his role on the Vikings and uses Twitter to make that clear, not to create confusion with cryptic posts.

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