After leading a captivating comeback win over the Bears last week, J.J. McCarthy was unable to replicate those heroics while facing the Falcons on Sunday night.

Instead, the Vikings offense struggled mightily, producing just 198 total yard of offense, two field goals and controlling the clock for only 23:28. McCarthy went 11-21 for 158 yards and two interceptions as the Falcons pass rush came alive for the first time in years with six sacks on the second-year signal-caller.

Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who has gotten off to a historic start to his career, is accustomed to being part of an explosive offense. Jefferson has been limited to seven catches for 125 yards through two games largely because of the offense's slow start and the growing pains that come with an inexperienced player under center, but Jefferson is sticking by his quarterback.

“We're always expecting to go out and execute and play our best ball every single game, but football is unpredictable and things happen," Jefferson told reporters after the game. "We're not expecting anyone to be perfect. I feel like J.J.'s confidence is still there. He's still going out there and leading and being vocal. He understands that everything is not perfect as well and he understands that he has a lot of guys behind him, backing him up every step of the way."

"There’s room for improvement for him, there’s room for improvement for everybody else on the team," Jefferson continued. "It’s not really just looking at J.J., there’s a lot of things that went on out there that J.J. can’t control. We just need to all do our job.”

As Jefferson said before the season, it's not all on McCarthy. Though McCarthy will need to get better, the offensive line and running game are also not at their best; there were multiple reasons for the team's offensive woes.

With McCarthy set to miss multiple weeks due to an ankle injury, the Vikings will have to temporarily turn to Carson Wentz to lead the offense, starting with their game against the Bengals on Sunday.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Justin Jefferson Stood Up for J.J. McCarthy After Tough Loss to Falcons.

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