Analysis: Kevin O’Connell’s bond with Justin Jefferson is helping Vikings in more ways than one

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell was talking with the Minnesota Star Tribune last month about some of the keys to helping him get the most out of a roster he’s been pushing to play smarter, tougher and with more passion for the game.

His relationship with a certain superstar receiver came up.

“Justin Jefferson is the epitome of smart, tough and loves football, and he’s as competitive as anybody that I’ve ever been around,” O’Connell said. “One of the reasons I think we’ve become so close is our personalities are so similar in a lot of ways. Justin always seems to have a smile on his face. He’s always positive. He always enjoys the act of working on his craft. Justin wants to be great. That helps a couple of ways.”

One, it makes Jefferson the best receiver in football and a generational talent who’s trending toward Canton, Ohio.

Let’s let O’Connell explain the other way.

“Part of the dynamic with our relationship is pushing him to be the greatest receiver on the planet but thinking bigger than that,” O’Connell said. “It’s more, ‘You got to be willing to lead this team, to set the standard.’

“Justin’s standards are so high if I can get the other 52 players on the team to look at him and say, ‘That’s the best in football at what he does, and look at the way he is practicing on Wednesday, look at the way he’s going through individual drills. Look at the way he’s showing up and pushing himself to be great.’ That’s huge.”

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Great players don’t always make great examples. Or care to try. Jefferson embraces that part of being the face of the franchise and the highest-paid nonquarterback in the history of the NFL.

“I try to be a good role model for the most part,” he said. “I don’t feel like I really do too much things that kind of shy me away from that. I try to be on my game as much as possible, whether that’s getting extra work off the field, being in the training room getting extra treatment, taking care of my body, or if it’s studying and being a pro at what I’m doing.

“I feel guys are definitely looking at me and paying attention to certain things that I do. That’s just part of being a professional. You always got to come to work ready to go and always got to make sure you’re doing the right things even if the eyes are not on you.”

Bud Grant for years talked about how he never would have become a Hall of Fame coach or lasted long in Minnesota if he hadn’t gotten Jim Marshall and Mick Tingelhoff on his side early on. Once he had them, he said, the locker room followed.

“I had a year of being able to sit and talk with Bud before he passed [in 2023],” O’Connell said. “We would talk about that and a lot more. I will be forever grateful for the conversations I had with Bud.”

It’s one of the reasons O’Connell established the “Jim Marshall Vikings Captains Legacy” while announcing eight captains this year: Harrison Phillips, Harrison Smith, Sam Darnold, Josh Metellus, Andrew DePaola, C.J. Ham, Brian O’Neill and Jefferson.

“One of the things that stood out about Bud was the love his guys had for him forever,” O’Connell said. “How much they knew that Bud loved and cared about them, but how Bud also was going to coach them hard too. He was going to demand a standard that was going to make the Minnesota Vikings the best they could be.”

That makes Jefferson even more valuable than the two great catches he made last Sunday as the Vikings were beating the Packers to raise their record to 4-0.

“When you have a great player, and that player is also one of your hardest workers, I think everyone else almost has no choice but to follow that lead,” said Brian Flores, Vikings defensive coordinator and former NFL head coach. “It really doesn’t get any better than that.”

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