Justin Jefferson may not have a crystal ball, but sometimes it feels like he has the world at his fingertips.
The Jacksonville Jaguars typically play one-high safety and man coverage. However, they played two-high safeties 92% of the time against the Minnesota Vikings. They left the middle of the field open for T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver, who had 72 and 52 yards receiving, respectively. Aaron Jones also ran for 88 yards.
However, they limited Jefferson to 48 yards on five receptions.
“They pretty much played a one-high majority of the season,” he said. “And just like I said last week, we kind of figured that they were going to switch up the defenses a little bit.
“Once we came in, they switched up their whole entire defense. And that’s kind of what I’ve been saying this whole entire season. That it doesn’t really matter how defenses play other teams. When we step foot on that field, the whole defense changes. It’s a lot more shell coverage; it’s a lot more two-high. And that’s something that we have to deal with.”
Jefferson turns opposing defenses into the Donatell shell. The man people call Jets has enough gravity to pull three defenders into his orbit and turn safeties into distant satellites. However, it can be challenging to game plan when opposing teams change their defensive strategies to account for his Mach 10 speed and gravitational pull.
“Yeah, it’s hard,” he said before the Jaguars game. “You don’t really know what a defense is going to play.”
Jefferson studies how other teams play the No. 1 receiver. Still, he must operate within the context of the defense. There’s only so much Jefferson can do when teams double-team him by playing cover 2 or quarters against the Vikings. He can’t turn on his afterburners when defenses bracket him with a cornerback and safety 20 yards from the line of scrimmage.
“It’s difficult because you want to have those explosive plays,” Jefferson said. “And it’s definitely difficult to have 15-play drives, staying on the field the whole entire time. But we just have to take what we have to, what we can get, or what they are allowing us to get. Teams don’t want us to have those 25-plus-yard catches downfield.”
In a backward way, the Vikings might have removed some of the mystery of how the Tennesee Titans will play them after the Jaguars game. Jacksonville limited Jefferson with the shell defense, and the Titans play a lot of cover 2 and quarters. Therefore, Minnesota expects more of the same shell coverage on Sunday.
“[The Jaguars] played some of these coverages throughout the year,” said offensive coordinator Wes Phillips, “just not necessarily the whole game. Which, again, credit to them. They were able to keep us out of the end zone. So this league sees what happens, and it’s a copycat league, and teams are gonna see, ‘Hey, they didn’t score a touchdown.’
“If they want to try to recreate that, we’ll be ready.”
Jefferson says he’s preparing to find ways to beat shell coverage against the Titans.
“That’s what we’re expecting going forward,” he said. “Teams are going to mix in that shell coverage and play two-high on us. So we were definitely looking over that and implementing plays to be better on that side of things.”
Jefferson understands that his gravitational pull will open things up for teammates. He has repeatedly said he will sacrifice his stats if the offense can move the ball forward.
“The opening comes from the defense just being spread out just with the concepts and the different plays that we’re running,” he said before the Jaguars game. “If everyone is doing their job and winning their battles, we’re going to see those one-on-one battles in some parts of the game. As long as we’re winning our battles and doing our jobs, we should have people creating separation and being open.”
Hockenson said that Jefferson’s teammates acknowledge his sacrifices.
“He’s a one-of-a-kind person, one-of-a-kind guy in the locker room,” he said. “He really promotes everybody.
“To be able to play with a guy like that that’s hyped after everybody is eating, not just him, is a lot of fun.”
Jefferson isn’t clairvoyant. However, his gravity changes how opponents game plan for him. While he can’t love playing against shell defense, he’s given Minnesota’s coaching staff a glimpse into the future. The Vikings enter the Titans game with a better understanding of how Tennessee will try to limit him. Still, few teams can keep Jets in orbit after he launches because the world always looks much smaller once he’s in space.
