Neal: Justin Jefferson has every right to be frustrated, but he shouldn’t stay silent

Here’s something I’ve learned through years of standing in clubhouses and locker rooms with an empty notebook and space on my recording devices:

If an athlete doesn’t feel like talking, then he or she is likely going to provide few good quotes.

Former Twins outfielder Marty Cordova didn’t like talking about himself. So getting him after a loss or a bad game was an even bigger challenge. There were times a clubhouse attendant would grab his clothes out of his stall while we were waiting for him so he could dress in the trainer’s room of the Metrodome and then flee out of the back door.

Some went the other way. Reliever Jon Rauch, an imposing man at 6-foot-11, used blunt-force active verbs to deprecate himself following rough outings. These sessions wouldn’t last long.

“Thanks for giving us something,” I told him after one of these sessions.

He replied that he’d learned long ago that if you admit you messed up, “people run out of questions.”

That brings us to Sunday night and the decision by Justin Jefferson to not speak to the media following the Vikings’ latest clunker, a 26-0 loss at Seattle that felt more like 46-0. He had six targets, made two catches and gained a career-low 4 yards.

It is different, and very noticeable, when the most important player — and one of the stars of the NFL — declines to speak.

His actions were noteworthy, but not a reason to be alarmed. Yet.

Media relations folks have been known to throw out a lifeline and tell athletes they can take a rain check if they really don’t want to be interviewed.

Regardless, folks who have been in the Vikings chambers more than me said it was the first time they remembered Jefferson not speaking to reporters.

Sunday was a night for plenty of body language-interpreting. During the second half, Jefferson was seen sitting away from the action following one drive, with only rookie Tai Felton nearby. Following another drive, he sat alone with a towel over his head. Other Vikings receivers weren’t very chipper either. Their defense held the Seahawks to 219 yards, and they could not take advantage of it.

Right now, the man is going through Groundhog Day. He’s caught passes from two first-year quarterbacks in J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer, who look like they are trying to drink out of a fire hose.

“It’s frustrating to be up here and say the same things every single week,” Jefferson said following the Week 12 loss at Green Bay. “You say the same things, expecting for something to change the following weekend, and we’re still in the same spot. We just got to figure it out, see the things that we need to change and get better.”

If Jefferson wasn’t frustrated, there would be something wrong with him. But on a team with two young quarterbacks trying to explain themselves, his accountability carries more weight.

Jefferson also has to remember that there were two passes from Brosmer on Sunday that he could have come up with, including one in the second quarter that was slightly behind him. Jordan Addison dropped a pass that would have yielded at least 20 yards in the same quarter. Even Jalen Nailor had a chance to make a highlight reel-worthy catch on a high ball that slipped through his fingers late in the third quarter and was intercepted.

Following the game, the defensive players chatted among themselves in the locker room while the offensive players were largely silent.

“I think that if we didn’t have the right collection of guys in here, it would sting a lot more,” he said. “Every time we lose, we come in here and we band together, we bring it up, and you get that sense of ‘there’s still a chance’. I know the guys in this room, and I know we’re going to keep working towards something that we’re proud of to put on tape.”

That’s the right attitude to have.

As for Jefferson, I don’t blame him for being frustrated. I’ll let it slide for him opting out of one media session.