Justin Jefferson Hits Another Milestone in Blowout Loss

avatar   |  
Oct 24, 2025
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson in September 2024.
Sep 29, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) during warmups prior to the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images.

The Minnesota Vikings certainly did not give much to cheer about on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Chargers.

A 37-10 loss will do that. However, Justin Jefferson’s impressive start to his career managed to hit a new peak during that game as the sixth-year wide receiver hit a brand new career milestone in Week 8.

Justin Jefferson’s Latest Milestone

Justin Jefferson in Week 3 agains the Cincinnati Bengals.
Sep 21, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) in action during the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Granted, it wasn’t the most memorable game overall for Jefferson. He totaled seven receptions for 79 yards, a rather ho-hum outing for the superstar who has averaged nearly 96 yards per game throughout his career.

However, Jefferson entered the game needing just 40 receiving yards to cross over the 8000-yard mark. When he surpassed that total during the second quarter on Thursday night, he officially became the fastest player to reach 8000 receiving yards since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

Jefferson passed Julio Jones for the fastest player to reach the mark, doing so in 84 games compared to Jones’ 85 games. However, Jones had to get to that mark during his seventh season because of missed time due to injuries early in his career. As a result, Jefferson joined Torry Holt and Randy Moss as just the third player ever to reach 8000 yards during his sixth season.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson in 2021 against the Cleveland Browns.
Oct 3, 2021; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) looks on before the game against the Cleveland Browns at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

This run is ultra-impressive because of the quarterbacks Jefferson has played for. For example, Jones was catching passes almost exclusively from Matt Ryan at the peak of his powers to get to 8000 yards.

Meanwhile, Jefferson has played alongside eight different starting quarterbacks:

  • Kirk Cousins
  • Sean Mannion
  • Nick Mullens
  • Jaren Hall
  • Josh Dobbs
  • Sam Darnold
  • J.J. McCarthy
  • Carson Wentz

Jefferson also passed Randy Moss as the youngest player ever to reach the mark at 26 years and 129 days old.

Sep 21, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) runs after the catch during the first half against the Cincinnati Bengals at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Now, Jefferson has his sights set on recording the most receiving yards through a player’s first six seasons as he has done in each of his first five NFL seasons.

Currently, Jefferson’s 8034 yards ranks behind only Randy Moss (8375) and Torry Holt (8156) in that category. As long as the star receiver records 342 yards in the final 10 games of the season, that mark will also belong to him.

Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.

Also Read:ESPN Analyst Says Vikings Might Have Blown It Big Time after All
avatar
By Josh Frey
Josh Frey is a senior writer at both PurplePTSD.com and VikingsTerritory.com, with a fascination for the NFL Draft. To ... More about Josh Frey