Jair Alexander backs him up while bucking Justin Jefferson grabs a one-shot

GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – In the middle of the first quarter on Sunday at Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers quarterback Jair Alexander He broke up a pass intended for a Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson. It was a harmless moment at the time – until Alexander started celebrating.

Alexander hit the “Grady” jig, Jefferson’s signature dance, while looking over his left shoulder. This move symbolizes a reversal of luck for the two players and their teams. The Packers held Jefferson to a career-low 1 reception for 15 yards in their 41-17 victory, after burning them to 11 receptions for 184 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1.

Speaking afterward, Jefferson said he thought Celebration should have awarded Alexander a penalty kick. But he wasn’t surprised to see after Alexander told reporters last week that Jefferson’s performance in Week 1 was “a fluke.”

“He does things like that to try to get into my head and stuff like that,” Jefferson said. “It’s what it is. Even from his comments leading up to this game, it’s just talk. It’s just trying to give him that buildup, that confidence, to go out there and guard me. Maybe we’ll see this team in the playoffs. So I guess we’ll see then.”

Meanwhile, Alexander said he had received a word from the coaches after his remarks to reporters last week.

“What did you say to them? Shoot, I just told them, I’m just being honest,” said Alexander. “This is.”

Alexander also told the coaches that he wanted to cover Jefferson more than he did in Week 1, when Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry played a great deal of area and outfield coverage. On Sunday, Alexander has lined up across from Jefferson 20 times, with no other Packers defender lining up in front of Jefferson more than twice, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Alexander was in Jefferson on 65% of his runs, up from 36% in the first week.

After carrying Jefferson without a catch in the first half and only one reception for 15 yards throughout the game, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said, “I know Jair chirped a little bit, but he backed it up.”

Alexander said he never spoke to Jefferson after the game.

“I don’t think he wants to talk to me,” said Alexander.

Jefferson was frustrated but calm as he spoke to reporters in the Minnesota locker room. The Vikings are 12-4, but their losses have come by an average of 22.3 points, and their 16-game point differential is -19.

Jefferson said, “We have to fix” the fact that “when we lose, we lose bad,” but added that there was only so much he could do on his own.

He said, “I finally realized I’m making my mark in this league, and every game they’re not going to let me go 100 yards. They’re going to do everything they can to not let me get those kind of numbers.”

“And two, it’s hard to do it twice on the same team. Getting 100+ yards on the same team is hard for sure. It shows you that they’re not doing their job if that happens. It’s hard for sure, getting one chance in the game, wanting to Being such a big part of the offense, wanting to make big plays for us, and not being able to do that is definitely hard on myself.”

Low production may have landed Jefferson’s run in the NFL record books. He is 194 yards short of breaking Calvin Johnson’s record for receiving yards in a season heading into the Vikings’ Week 18 game at the Chicago Bears.