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Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff Writer
EAGAN, Minn. — The last time Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson and Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander were on the field together, Alexander mocked Jefferson’s signature touchdown dance. Jefferson has a different plan for Sunday’s matchup between the teams at Lambeau Field.
“He likes to do that stuff to get inside someone’s head,” Jefferson said Thursday. “I’m not really tripping on that. I’m going to just get my Griddy in his end zone. So, I’m not tripping on it at all. I’m excited for the matchup.”
The annual matchups between the two heated up in Week 1 of the 2022 season, when Jefferson caught nine passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns in a 23-7 Vikings victory. Alexander called that performance a “fluke” and then mocked Jefferson’s Griddy when the Packers held him to one catch for 15 yards in their 41-17 victory in Week 17 of that season.
Jefferson didn’t play in the teams’ first matchup in 2023 because of a torn right hamstring, and Alexander was suspended for the second. Jefferson said Thursday that the rivalry seems to matter more to Alexander than it does to him.
“I didn’t really care if he played or not,” Jefferson said. “Last year … during that time we were fighting to get back into the playoffs and to make our run. That’s something that I was looking forward to. I really don’t care about the matchup, honestly. I feel like he cares more of it than I do, but I mean it is what it is.
“That’s every team, no [knock] at Jaire. That’s every team and how they scheme up against me and how they try to play me. So, it doesn’t matter if I’m going up against Jaire or if I’m going up against the worst corner in the league, it doesn’t matter.”
With that said, Jefferson knows that Alexander will play mental games throughout the afternoon, much as his older brother did when he was a kid.
“Always just [trying] to knickknack at every little thing and just try to play the head game,” Jefferson said. “Just try to hit you a little extra or try to push you a little extra than normal people do. But I understand that it’s a tactic. It’s a tactic to get inside my head and to mess up my game plan and what I’m doing, but it doesn’t really work.
“I understand that he has some help over the top sometimes and he likes to do the jump jam and likes to put hands on to disrupt the route, but we have a plan for it. I can’t wait to go up against it honestly.”