Vikings' Kevin O'Connell gives honest assessment of J.J. McCarthy
J.J. McCarthy does have pressure entering his first season as the Minnesota Vikings' starting quarterback. After making the playoffs last season under Sam Darnold, McCarthy needs to carry the baton for a team built to win.
Nonetheless, the 22-year-old is barely getting his feet wet after missing all last season due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. Ahead of the 2025 NFL season, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell shared the latest regarding his young signal-caller in training camp.
"He's in a really good spot right now from the standpoint we're trying to build a plan that goes beyond the first regular season game," O'Connell told The Athletic's Senior NFL Insider Dianna Russini on the latest episode of "Scoop City."
"We want to get him ready to go. We want to get him prepared. My job is to prepare the whole football team, and those two things can be going on at the same time, but maybe not necessarily be in the same place at the same time."
MORE:Vikings' J.J. McCarthy receives intriguing message from T.J. Hockenson
While McCarthy still has a lot to learn as a starting quarterback and it's a process, O'Connell stated that he's content with where the University of Michigan product is heading into the Vikings' second preseason game.
"J.J. is in a good spot right now," O'Connell added. "We just got to keep working. It's details, it's discipline. It's a lot of boring things."
Recently, tight end T.J. Hockenson had encouraging words for the young quarterback as the veterans on the squad are behind him as McCarthy goes through growing pains and learning lessons that all young players go through in their NFL careers.
Still, McCarthy is displaying positive signs to garner this feedback from the Vikings' head coach and teammates. It will be interesting to see how he hits the ground running for Minnesota to ensure they get off to a good start and push for the NFC North division title.
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