Raiders Preparing for Tough Vikings Receiving Corps
The road will not get any easier as the Las Vegas Raiders look to win out with these final five games of the season. The first task, particularly on defense, will be limiting the success of a dangerous Minnesota Vikings receiving corps that includes tight end T.J. Hockenson, rookie wide receiver Jordan Addison and a returning Justin Jefferson, the league’s reigning receiving champion. While it will be one of the toughest groups Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham and his defense have seen so far, it is nothing they haven’t had to prepare for before.
“Every week, you’re facing these teams in the NFL — pretty good players, dynamic players across the board,” Graham told reporters on Tuesday. “They’re no different than a lot of the teams we’ve seen. And what we’re going to do — we’re in the lab right now working on a game plan to try to see how we can minimize them, take away their strengths and try to attack their weaknesses. “But in terms of the good combination — one; the play calling. I think Kevin’s [O’Connell] done a really good job. You can see just even like the second half how they are able to adjust. “I don’t know the stats for that, per se, but he does a good job of adjusting, so you got to be ready to
combat that on top of dealing with the players. And then, whoever they have there at quarterback does a good job of getting the ball to — distributing the ball to — their skill players.” A Minnesota Vikings receiving corps of T.J. Hockenson, Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson will be a tough task for the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.© Jeffrey Becker | 2023 Sep 10 © Jeffrey Becker | 2023 Sep 10 Jefferson, who was placed on the IR following Minnesota’s Week 5 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, was activated last week and will likely be ready to play Sunday.
“The biggest thing for me: he’s [Jefferson] one of the best receivers in the league, and he’s pretty dynamic with the ball in his hands,” Graham said. “He runs good routes, he can make plays after the catch. And then the willingness to block; they ask those receivers to block in the run game, so you see that as well. “So, complete player. Lot of respect [for] what he’s done in the league so far. And we’re going to have our hands full.”
