Justin Jefferson reaches career milestone and embarrasses Bears in the process
By Josh Wilson
Justin Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings didn't have a great night on Thursday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly won by six in a sloppy game that featured five turnovers, four from Minnesota.
One such turnover was from Jefferson, who tried to make an extension for the end zone but fell short and lost the ball through the endzone, resulting in a touchback.
It wasn't all bad news for Jefferson, personally, though, who totaled 159 receiving yards, bringing his career total to 5,134. He has played just 52 total games.
To put that number into perspective, fans were quick to point out how it compares to one of his division rivals.
Bears don't have a single receiver who has ever totaled as many yards as Justin Jefferson
The Bears franchise leader in receiving yards is Johnny Morris, with 5,059 yards. It took him 10 years in Chicago to accomplish that feat.
Other members of the NFC North give Jefferson more to get after. The Packers have 14 players still above Jefferson in single-team career receiving yardage. The Lions have five. Even the Texans, the youngest team in the NFL have two players ahead of Jefferson in their record books. The Texans have 22 seasons of history, the Bears have 104.
In fact, the Bears are the only team to not have at least one player that has accumulated more franchise receiving yards than Jefferson has so far with the Vikings. It's a sad state of affairs for the Bears in finding elite, generational receivers, clearly. Latest failed experiment? Chase Claypool.
More than anything, though, it shows just how impressive Jefferson has been. His 5,000 yards through 52 games works out to tie for the quickest player to reach that mark.