Monday Morning Mailbag: Justin Jefferson’s Return, Vikings Approach at Quarterback
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The Vikings are back from their Week 13 bye, and plenty of discussions this week will center around the return of Justin Jefferson after the receiver missed seven full games because of a hamstring injury.
Head Coach Kevin O’Connell, the medical team, and the receiver have exercised patience and the long play with the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, who is expected to provide help to an offense that struggled on its way into the bye week.
The bigger question encircling the Vikings is what O’Connell will opt to do at quarterback.
Judging by the inbox, everyone is well-aware of the team’s status, but here is a brief recap.
Veteran backup Nick Mullens has returned from Injured Reserve, but he hasn’t played since the preseason and played sparingly in 2022 after Minnesota traded to acquire him from Las Vegas (after facing him there in that preseason).
Rookie Jaren Hall is back from the concussion he suffered at Atlanta in Week 9. With Mullens on IR at that point, Hall made his first career start a week after Kirk Cousins his season-ending Achilles injury at Green Bay in Week 8.
Two days after the injury to Cousins, the Vikings acquired Joshua Dobbs from Arizona, and Dobbs was pressed into action after Hall was injured on the second possession. Dobbs led the Vikings to an improbable win over his hometown Falcons and followed with one of the best halves the Vikings have played in recent years (led New Orleans 24-3 at halftime in Week 10).
That, however, has been followed by a stretch of 33 points in the past 10 quarters, including the past two games started by Dobbs.
Complicating things has been a continued propensity by the Vikings to give the ball away. Seven turnovers in the past eight quarters have worsened the tally to 24 giveaways on the season, an average of two per game.
If that pace holds true, it will be the 11th time a Vikings squad has averaged two or more turnovers per game since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Five of the previous Minnesota squads (8-7-1 in 1978, 11-5 in 1992, 10-6 in 1994, 9-7 in 1996, 10-6 in 1999) posted winning records. The other five each maxed out at five or six wins (2001, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2013).
Regardless of who is in the game, the Vikings really could start helping themselves by protecting the football better.
I can only hope Jaren Hall gets the next start. Dobbs has absolutely no velocity on his ball, has no sense of ball security, and makes some really dumb decisions in his choices of where to throw the football.
Jaren Hall had one game and learned ball security and is just flat out a better QB in all areas. I can’t watch Dobbs bumble, fumble, and stumble around anymore. He may be smart enough to launch a rocket, but I just don’t think he will be able to successfully lead our team to the playoffs.
Let’s see if Jaren Hall can be our QB of the future. It’s too obvious Dobbs is not! If O’Connell goes with Dobbs, I will have lost all faith in him.
— Lloyd in Alaska (Viking fan since 1961, the beginning)
When the Vikings acquired Dobbs, I asked someone I appreciate the opinions of (who also happened to watch a lot of Tennessee Volunteers football) about him. First word said was “beloved.” It was quickly followed by, I’m paraphrasing this part, even when he made mistakes.
We’ve all seen some endearing qualities as Dobbs quickly connected with coaches and teammates, as well as his charisma and approachability that have been conveyed through his media sessions.
We’ve seen him dazzle with spontaneous play-making ability, but we’ve also witnessed turnovers on an underthrown pass and a couple of deflections, as well as two fumbles at Denver (although one occurred on an illegal hit). I actually think one of the interceptions — the one that hit off Jordan Addison’s hands — had a little too much mustard on it.
It was a small sample size, but Hall seemed to have an incredibly clean operation on Minnesota’s first two possessions at Atlanta (showing nice growth since the preseason opener at Seattle). He showed good vision and accuracy with the football, even when throwing off-platform.
I wrote in a previous edition that I think his play would have positioned the Vikings to win against the Falcons.
I also think the case of Dobbs is still to be determined. It’s incredibly difficult for a QB to come in midseason in a different offensive system the rest of the team has been learning and executing for months.
Let Dobbs be the runner he is. Don’t keep him in the pocket. He is not a pocket quarterback. He would have done better if you let him be himself. Try it, and you will see!!! Also need to get people who will be strong offensive players to give the QB some time to throw.
— Lucille S.
Based on three-plus games in Purple, Dobbs has been most effective outside of the pocket. It seemed Chicago made it a point to bottleneck him, but the Bears didn’t seem to sacrifice much/have to invest too many resources to do so.
He looked crisp in the 2-minute drill before the intentional grounding penalty on a play at the Chicago 13-yard line sideswiped the drive with under a minute to go in the first half. It seemed like Dobbs could have taken a checkdown to Alexander Mattison for a modest gain that would have allowed Mattison to get the ball out of bounds to stop the clock, but he held it, and despite Minnesota using extra players to block, the Bears got home with just four defenders on a six-man blocking scheme (seven if Mattison is included before releasing on his route).
There seemed to be a good bit of vocality throughout the game at the line of scrimmage in that game with “canning” the first play that was called and switching to the second.
Lots of comments on the game. One I think we need to consider is that the timing between Dobbs and the receivers is not there yet. Some teams spend their offseason working on it. We have had a couple weeks. Growing pains.
— Gerald Goblirsch
That’s definitely a fair point worth keeping in mind. O’Connell spoke extensively last week about the rhythm and timing of the offensive system being off.
Bottom line is no matter who is in at quarterback the rest of the season, it’s highly unlikely that anyone will have the rhythm and timing that Cousins was showing while playing as good as (better than many in the NFL) at the position this season.
Bye weeks usually afford teams a self-scouting opportunity, so it will be interesting to see how the Vikings try to prioritize the maximums of what any of the quarterbacks can do with respect to what O’Connell and coaches believe are the best options within the system.
Clearly the shine has worn off Mr. Dobbs. And all the reasons he’s been on many teams and came to us with a 1-7 record from Arizona, have shown their ugly head. For a cerebral guy, he can’t seem to read defenses quickly enough. And he forgets his legs, too. I think going forward Nick Mullens is the guy. And if Nick can’t get it done, on to Jaren. Anything to win out. Staring at 6-6 when we EASILY should be 8-4 is tough to swallow. Especially during the bye. I hope we come out strong and don’t look flat. If the defense can keep us in games, we shouldn’t need too many points out of the offense. Five very winnable games ahead. Even the Lions in Detroit are vulnerable. We can win out!
Will Jared “Sweet 16” Hall start next time Minny plays? I really like to see what he has to offer as a player on the field!
Thank you in advance!
— Corey Alexander in Richmond, Virginia
Guess we’ll have to wait and find out this week regarding O’Connell’s plan.
The Vikings are scheduled to have open locker room at 1 p.m. and a practice at 2 p.m. today. Minnesota’s coordinators are scheduled to speak to media members on Tuesday, and O’Connell likely will have sessions scheduled for Wednesday and Friday.
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