Xavier McKinney believes Giants can contain Justin Jefferson
It was hard to imagine entering the season, but the New York Giants are headed to their first postseason since 2016.
The Giants will go on the road to play the Minnesota Vikings in a rematch of a Week 16 game that saw the Vikes win in dramatic fashion — a franchise-record, 61-yard field goal as time expired.
The Vikings’ biggest strength is star wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who might just be the best in the league at his position. In fact, when they played a few weeks ago, Jefferson hauled in 12 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown.
The Giants’ secondary has gotten healthy since then as safety Xavier McKinney returned and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson is expected back for the Wild Card game.
McKinney is aware of Jefferson and his potential impact but believes the Giants can contain him.
“Yeah, he’s been shut down before,” McKinney told NJ Advance Media. “So yeah.
“Just how he puts on all his [clothes], we do the same thing. We’ve got really good [defensive backs]. I’m not worried about it at all. He’s a good player. He’s going to make plays. But he’s not somebody that we haven’t seen be stopped before. We’ve seen it. I’ve seen it. So we’ll be all right. He’s human just how we’re human. So that’s how we treat it.”
With Jackson likely back for this matchup, the confidence going up against Jefferson will improve significantly. Jackson was playing at an elite level before going down against the Detroit Lions back in Week 11.
Certainly, containing Jefferson will be high on the Giants’ priority list on Sunday. That and putting consistent pressure on Kirk Cousins.
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