Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy says "I know I'm ready to start"
There have been a lot of questions around Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy this offseason.
Is he still injured? Is he ready to start? Should the Vikings sign Sam Darnold or Aaron Rodgers instead?
McCarthy himself has no doubts about his future with the team.
"I know I'm ready to start," McCarthy said Tuesday. "All the work I've put in and just the confidence in my skills and abilities."
The 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft missed his entire rookie season with a meniscus injury, but he doesn't call it a setback. In fact, he said it's been a boon.
"Overall I feel 110% because I feel better than when I got hurt eight months ago," he said.
The journey from injury to recovery wasn't all positive, though. McCarthy missed out on a year of practice reps — and potentially even in-game action — which he says he substituted with prep work, mental reps and even virtual reality training.
"Our VR stuff during the year was kind of like watching film, but you saw it through Sam's perspective. It helped out a lot at practice when I was able to play it, hear the play call, say it and then watch it from his point of view," McCarthy said. "It was just more reps on reps, and mental reps are ultimately one of the greatest things to improve, especially when you're not able to do it physically."
McCarthy also spent much of the year bonding with his teammates.
"The most difficult thing was just being part of the team but not being out there with the guys," McCarthy said.
Head coach Kevin O'Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah have both publicly expressed confidence in their young passer. More importantly, the moves they've made this offseason show their belief in him: letting Darnold walk, declining to sign Rodgers and devoting ample resources to the offensive line. McCarthy feels like he's walking into a great situation.
"I have a tremendous coaching staff, a tremendous group of guys around me that I can lean on and they can lean on me," he said.
Those teammates sound ready to lean on him, with players from both sides of the ball throwing their weight behind the young QB.
"Brother, he's working his tail off. This is our quarterback," pass rusher Jonathan Greenard said. "Man, we're all behind him. We're all standing 10 toes with J."
"First off, the energy he brings to the building every day is infectious. You can tell he wants it really bad. He does all the right things. He was here all winter, got his knee fully healthy," right tackle Brian O'Neill said. "It's good to have him in a lot more meetings ... It's good to have that interactions with him, knowing going in he's going to be the guy."
Still, it's easy to be boundlessly optimistic during the offseason, before the real work begins. Once the Vikings get on the field, McCarthy will need to prove that he is indeed "the guy."
"I can't wait to go out there and show them and not just tell them," McCarthy said.
