Will Vikings unleash Justin Jefferson vs. Bears?

Lost in the front-burner frustrations of Eagles receiver A.J. Brown is the simmering purple pot in Minnesota.

Receiver Justin Jefferson is saying all the right things, but something is off. And it's not hard to trace the issue to the work-in-progress quarterback situation in Minnesota.

Case in point. With J.J. McCarthy under center, Jefferson averages 52.3 receiving yards per game. When Carson Wentz was starting, Jefferson averaged 95.4 yards.

That doesn't mean McCarthy should force the ball to Jefferson. Twice last week that resulted in interceptions.

And as McCarthy prepares for his fifth career start, he has another reason to avoid throwing an interception on Sunday. If he does, he'll be the third quarterback in the last 10 seasona to throw interceptions in each of his first five games, joining Jets quarteback Zach Wilson in 2021 and Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer in 2017.

For the year, McCarthy has completed 58 of 108 passes for 692 yards, with five touchdown passes and six interceptions. It translates to a passer rating of 65.8.

If he had played enough to make it to the list of qualifying leaders, that would put him dead last - nearly seven points behind Cam Ward's 72.2.