Vikings Rumors Simmer on Justin Jefferson’s Frustration, Packer on the Hot Seat, 2026 QB Plan
The Minnesota Vikings are sitting at 4–5 after ten weeks, clinging to relevance and needing a win this weekend to avoid the emotional version of playoff elimination. There’s still a runway, but it’s getting short, and everyone in the building knows it. Meanwhile, the rumor mill hasn’t slowed for a second — it never does with this team.
Vikings rumors simmer on Justin Jefferson’s frustration, a Packers figure on the hot seat, and what Minnesota’s early 2026 quarterback planning reveals.
Here’s a look at the Week 11 rumor swirl as the Vikings line up for a must-have meeting with the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Vikings Rumors for November 16th, 2025
A peek at the purple gossip.
Rumor: Justin Jefferson was upset last weekend about calls not going in his favor.
Jefferson had one of his roughest outings of the season — and his career — against the Ravens in Week 10, and it caught people off guard. He looked frustrated, out of sync, and nowhere near his usual takeover mode — the kind of off-day that stands out because it’s so seldom.
O’Connell addressed it Monday, saying, “I think there was some frustration, and maybe with not having a couple calls go his way from a referee standpoint, but that’s all part of the game, and he got frustrated there a little bit. He’s so competitive. He wants to make those plays.”
He added, “We’ve got competitors and sometimes that thing can present itself differently when you’re talking about this guy to the next guy, but I have no concerns with Justin.”
Still, the internet being the internet, a few social media voices tried to turn Jefferson’s body language into something deeper — frustration with teammates, unhappiness with the offense, or some existential crisis about football itself. O’Connell made it clear that none of that is reality.
Jefferson backed that up after the game, telling reporters, “I feel like I was okay physically. The ball didn’t really find my hand today. That’s a part of football. That’s a part of life. It’s tough to get those opportunities and gotta make the most of those opportunities. Like I say, we gotta go back to it, go back to work and practice, fix the things we need to fix so on Sundays it’s a cakewalk.”
That moment could’ve been an opening for him to air grievances or point fingers. He didn’t take it. Instead, he owned the night, stayed steady, and pointed himself back toward the work.
Jefferson also said later in the week that he planned to get back to his pure love for football. He claimed his recent lack of fire — compared to his normal standard — has nothing to do with his teammates or coaches, instead a rigor he must find on his own.
Rumor: Matt LaFleur in Green Bay could be inching toward the hot seat.
The Green Bay Packers aren’t built for turbulence, and neither are their fans. So when they face-planted at home on Monday Night Football, the reaction was instant: people started asking whether Matt LaFleur’s seat was finally heating up. For a franchise that prides itself on stability, that’s a jarring place to be.
LaFleur, the head coach of Minnesota’s oldest and loudest rival, is suddenly the subject of job-security conversations after a stretch that’s fallen well short of expectations. Green Bay had a real chance to knock off Philadelphia in Week 10 — a chance to steady the season — and let it slip.
CBS Sports’ Bryan DeArdo summed it up afterward: “Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur is fielding questions about his job status following Sunday night’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Green Bay’s 10-7 loss to Philadelphia marked the team’s second straight defeat.”
He continued, “The loss, which dropped Green Bay (5-3-1) from first to third place in the NFC North standings, led to questions on whether or not LaFleur is on the proverbial hot seat. While Green Bay underachieved through nine games, the question about LaFleur’s job status may be more indicative of the state of coaching than it is about LaFleur’s job performance.”
A couple of wins would quiet everything down, because that’s how it goes in this league — but until that happens, the pressure is real, and everyone in Green Bay feels it.
Rumor: ESPN’s Bill Barnwell claims the Vikings need a high-end QB2 in 2026 — or a competitor for J.J. McCarthy.
Bill Barnwell took his annual lap around the league this week, breaking down who needs what and which quarterbacks might land where next offseason. Eventually, he got to Minnesota — and he didn’t dance around anything.
He wrote, “The Vikings, of course, are both more invested in McCarthy’s success and have more information than all of us on the outside.”
“Kevin O’Connell has seen how McCarthy has played in practice and has the best sense of how McCarthy is actually running each of the concepts we see play out on Sunday. I’d still be surprised if the Vikings really knew, even privately, whether McCarthy was going to pan out as their starter of the future … because again, it has been four starts.”
McCarthy is 2–2 so far, showing the full spectrum — real highs, growing pains, and everything in between.
Barnwell kept going: “What does seem clear, though, is that the Vikings should be more aggressive in having someone behind McCarthy to both compete with him for the starting job in 2026 and fill in for the 2024 first-round pick in case he battles more injuries. Darnold was the Minnesota quarterback in 2024 and performed admirably in McCarthy’s absence, but Carson Wentz wasn’t quite as effective while dealing with his shoulder injury this season.”
He closed with, “The Vikings acquired Sam Howell and then moved on from him without ever seeing him play in a regular-season game; I’d expect a more reliable veteran to be the No. 2 option in 2026.”
The takeaway from ESPN is straightforward: Minnesota can’t afford a hollow QB depth chart. They need a real No. 2 — someone who matters, not just someone holding a clipboard, per Barnwell.
It might even be Max Brosmer.
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