EAGAN – They call it a “must have” piece.

Play on the line. Need someone to support you. Now or never.

Last Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, quarterback Sam Darnold got a taste of what Mr. Gotta-Have-It Justin Jefferson can do in key spots.

With 4:08 remaining and the Vikings trying to run out time on the Packers, Darnold found himself facing third-and-12. If you convert, the game essentially ends. I have to have it.

He dropped back and fired a pass toward the sideline. Jefferson did a full-speed Superman dive, caught the ball, tapped his toes, survived the ground and converted a massive first down. Even the referees couldn’t believe their eyes. The piece had to be questioned to show that he had indeed caught it.

Ultimately, the Vikings didn’t score on the drive, but allowed another two minutes to play, giving Green Bay no time to score twice.

After the game, Darnold called it one of the best catches he had ever seen. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said he’s never seen anyone cover so much ground with a six-step speedout.

When it comes to great wide receivers making spectacular catches, we tend to assume the explanation is simply in their DNA. They either entered the gene pool lottery or were bitten by a radioactive spider. Jefferson is the chosen one. He can see the matrix. The ball moves towards him in slow motion and we are all just witnesses to the freak show.

OK, some of this is true. Jefferson’s family is made up of great athletes and biometrics have actually shown that he can see things that you and everyone you’ve ever met can’t. But just like with musical geniuses, the focus on God’s gifts often overshadows the hours devoted to such a reception.

So what does Jefferson do in practice to make these catches possible?

He says he keeps trying to recreate the side effect he got in the “I have to have it” moment. Like a basketball player counting down: “3…2…1…buzzzzzz.”

“It’s really hard to practice those exact catches where you actually fall… Those are the ones that are hard to practice, but you can get close to the sideline if you know where you are on the sideline. You know foot position and how to pull your foot,” Jefferson explained. “And all of that just comes from repetition, doing it over and over again. I mean, we do this drill every day and during game days while we’re warming up. These catches are certainly difficult, but they are what separate you from the good and the great.”

When Darnold arrived in Minnesota, he didn’t immediately get the chance to throw to Jefferson in practice because the team was still putting the finishing touches on a new contract that would make him the highest-paid receiver in football. When Jefferson arrived at minicamp, one of Darnold’s first throws toward him was snatched out of the air by one hand. Darnold noted that Jefferson is never without a football in his hand at practice.

“Whether it’s walkthrough before practice after practice, he’s always playing catch, he’s always doing everything he can to improve that way,” Darnold said. I’m sure he does the same thing in the offseason. So he’s always practicing these types of catches… he’s been making these catches since I’ve been playing with him since mandatory minicamps. The fact that he was able to make that catch at such a crucial moment in the game was obviously great for us.”

There’s an old saying: “Practice how you play.” Well, in football that’s impossible, otherwise players would get injured all the time and no one would have any energy left on Sunday. Running back Aaron Jones said that a player like Jefferson is able to put himself in the same mindset during practice that he will have when the football really comes at him in the game, even if he doesn’t face it in the same way Intensity does.

“He brings himself into the game in practice,” Jones explained. “So when he finds himself in those situations in the game, it’s easy. He was there before his spirit was there. His body, he made those catches and so he might say, “Oh yeah, that was an easy catch” or something like that, and you think, well, that wasn’t an easy catch (laughs). It’s routine for him because that’s how he really practices and that’s what he does every day.”

The thing about Jefferson is that he loves practicing. During his contract negotiations in 2023, he practiced every day, unlike some other stars working toward deals. Earlier this year, Jefferson had to take a rest day during training camp because he had logged a lot of miles in previous workouts. The team had a strategic goal of keeping him healthy through 17 games, which he understood, but he wasn’t happy about it.

“I’ve never really been the type of person to take days off,” Jefferson said.

Another old coaching saying is that it’s better to say “Wow” than “Go.” Offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said it’s usually the case that players of Jefferson’s caliber can’t help but try to be the frontrunner during practice time.

“The great players I’ve ever been around on both sides of the ball, when they step on the field, they’re extremely competitive, almost too competitive at times,” Phillips said. “Aaron Donald was like that, some of the guys that were there are Hall of Fame players (are like that). Every day he comes out he wants to win. He wants to win every rep he does and when he doesn’t, he takes it personally. He really is a special player.”

Head coach Kevin O’Connell said receivers coach Keenan McCardell works with his players on sideline catches every Friday as part of their scramble drill, so the hope is that Jefferson isn’t the only one preparing for these types of catches. But his practice has organizational significance. The culture can only be as good as its best player.

“Justin (Jefferson) is a guy like we talked about his work ethic and how he sees every day as an opportunity to get better. Those are some of the things he’s working on…Justin (Jefferson) is a prime example of that.” “He’s the best at his position in football, he works on his craft every day and sets the tone for all of us,” O said ‘Connell.

Of course, the defensive players don’t always have the most fun when Jefferson works hard in practice.

“Sometimes at practice I just get frustrated and I’m like, ‘Man, I’m playing defense, but he’s catching everything,'” cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. said.

Although he’s tired of Jefferson doing impossible things against him during training, Murphy Jr. admitted that working against Jefferson helps him train for the best of the best.

“He’s a receiver that’s going to make you better in practice, and on Sundays it shows because when I go against that guy (in practice), it should be a little easier on Sundays,” Murphy Jr. said. “He makes those catches , we see that every day and it’s like, ‘Oh my God.’ He makes the craziest catches. The defense can be right next to him and he will still catch it. Protecting him makes me better.”

Veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore said it wasn’t just the spectacular catches. He pointed to Jefferson’s efforts to make all of his routes look the same, which was so difficult for him when fighting him.

“He’s more fluid, you can’t figure out what he’s doing on his routes, that’s the main thing,” Gilmore said. “Some guys are quick, he’s quick and smooth. That makes it hard… and you can just tell he loves the game.”

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores noted that it was a big deal for Jefferson to utilize other areas besides just catching the ball, as he constantly faces double teams and shifts in coverage to his side.

“This doesn’t happen by chance at all…(he) talks to (McCardell) about camouflage and cover structures and where to clear spaces and how to get to those spaces and releases,” Flores said.

Several people have taken the trouble to mention that Jefferson made an outside block last week to allow Jordan Addison to score a touchdown on a reverse. It wasn’t a must-have catch, but it was a must-have block or he would have been knocked down for a loss.

“I know we see all the highlights, but he also does all the little things,” Flores said. “I know it goes unnoticed, but it doesn’t go unnoticed by the people in this building. He is who he is for a reason.”