Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Vikings were without Dalvin Cook, whose father James passed away unexpectedly this past week.
Alexander Mattison played admirably in Cook's stead, leading Minnesota with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. He also added 50 receiving yards (one yard short of his career high) and grabbed his first career score through the air.
Jefferson said it "meant a lot" to finish the season with a win for Cook. The rookie said he texted Cook before the game to let him know his teammates are praying for him and that they had his back.
"I can't imagine losing my father, especially during the season like this, that's very tough. For him to go through that, I don't wish that on anybody," Jefferson said. "We definitely played this game for Dalvin, and we wanted to get this 'Dub' for him."
Jefferson certainly did that and more.
He racked up nine catches for 133 yards and in doing so broke two more records. Jefferson finished the season with an even 1,400 yards, surpassing Anquan Boldin's 1,377 in 2003 and establishing a new NFL record for receiving yards by a rookie. He also outdid Randy Moss' 1,313 yards in 1998 earlier in the game, breaking the franchise record while wearing custom-designed kicks in respect to the Hall of Famer.
"I had to honor him," Jefferson said. "I had a good chance to break the record today, so I had to put him on the cleats."