Irv Smith Jr. caught three passes for 60 yards in the Minnesota Vikings’ 34-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. That might appear a modest total in the pass-happy NFL, but it was a record-setting day for the former Alabama standout.

Smith set a Vikings' single-game record for the most receiving yards by a rookie tight end. He eclipsed the mark of 57 yards established by Andrew Jordan in a 26-23 overtime victory against the New England Patriots on Nov. 13, 1994.

Smith had receptions good for 20 and 26 yards on separate Minnesota touchdown drives, and he lost another 26-yard reception to an illegal-block penalty, getting credit for only 14 yards on the play.

“It’s crazy,” Smith told reporters on Monday about the record. “I didn’t know how many yards I had. I’m just out there catching the ball and trying to run it as far and as fast as I can, so it’s awesome making history like that, and, hopefully, I’ll beat it each week.”

Smith got almost all the yards on one of his receptions after catching the football.

“That’s honestly my favorite thing -- to get the ball in space and try to make somebody tackle me,” Smith said, “and I try to make as many guys as I can miss, whether it’s juking them or running them over or running past them. It’s a lot of fun.”

Irv Smith Jr. was more involved in the passing game on Sunday. When Smith runs routes, he does a really nice job of keeping his shoulders vertical. He mixed in a head-fake at the top, too. His run-blocking and versatility have been underrated this year. #Vikings pic.twitter.com/iz8mO3f6bW — Daniel House (@DanielHouseNFL) September 23, 2019

In his first two NFL games, Smith had played 52 of Minnesota's 115 offensive snaps and had two passes thrown his way. Against the Raiders, Smith played 31 of the Vikings' 63 offensive snaps and caught all three balls thrown to him.

“We used the tight ends quite a bit," Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said about Sunday’s game plan. "We had some chances where we thought we could get them open in some of the things (Oakland) did. They did a good job.”

Of his two targets in the first two games, Smith caught one of them -- for a 1-yard loss -- as he did more blocking than pass-catching.

“I just try to do my role,” Smith said. “Whatever the coaches want me to do, whether it’s blocking or going out there and making plays in the pass game, I’m going to do it. I feel like (Sunday) my time came, and I made the most of it.”

Smith said Alabama got him ready to handle the dual responsibilities of an NFL tight end.

“Alabama is always a run-first team,” Smith said, “so I feel like going to Alabama definitely helped prepare me for this. I mean, I had to block as well, so it’s definitely correlating to this next level.”

The Vikings selected Smith in the second round of the NFL Draft in April after he caught 44 passes for 710 yards and seven touchdowns for Alabama in 2018.

Minnesota visits the Chicago Bears for an NFC North rivalry game at 3:25 p.m. CDT Sunday at Soldier Field.

“I feel like the more comfortable we get with each other and as a group, the more touches I’m going to get and the more plays I’ll be able to make,” Smith said. “It was a little fast at first because I was learning the plays and they were throwing a lot at me. Now I’m locked in. I’ve been doing a lot to be able to go out there and play fast.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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