McCarthy is stacking early success as the obvious QB1 in Minnesota.
J.J. McCarthy / Minnesota Viking
J.J. McCarthy says he’s “bigger, faster, stronger” than he was at this time last year. That’s big new for the Minnesota Vikings, and clearly part of the reason why the franchise elected to move forward with him instead of giving Aaron Rodgers or anyone else a chance to lead the purple to the promised land.
McCarthy credits natural aging — he turned 22 on Jan. 20 — for his physical improvements.
“I would say just naturally age. Being able to be here the entire offseason, work out five days a week and just consistently stack those days because over time it’s going to show up to how I feel now,” McCarthy said after the Vikings held an organized team activity on Wednesday.
It also helps that he’s 10 months removed from the torn meniscus that ended his rookie season after one preseason game.
“It feels amazing,” he said of being back on the field. “When you get it taken away from you, you take every chance you get to be back out here and really appreciate it, really take the most out of it. There’s just nothing better than being out here with the boys, playing some ball.”
Head coach Kevin O’Connell raved about McCarthy’s growth from Year 1 to 2.
“Yeah, he’s healthy. He’s done an unbelievable job,” O’Connell said. “You kind of forget the fact that this is his first runway since the injury happened. I think it’s just a credit to the work he put in. There’s been a lot of lonely hours where it’s him and the training staff and the strength staff. Jut the work he’s put in to get his body where he’s at, and the arm feeling the way it is, and then of course coming off the injury his lower body feeling as good as it does, to move the way he’s doing. He looks great. He’s feeling really good. Now we just gotta stack a lot of really good days together this spring together.”
They’re only in shorts at this point of the offseason, but McCarthy has a grasp of O’Connell’s diverse playbook and he’s feeling good about his knowledge of the scheme.
“I would say the familiarity within the offense,” McCarthy said of his growth. “Just being able to regurgitate play calls and understand where guys are at, where they’re supposed to be if they’re not there. Yeah, the familiarity in the offense is the biggest change.”
O’Connell said “darn near 100%” of the roster showed up to the voluntary OTAs, including wide receiver Justin Jefferson, whose connection with McCarthy is growing on and off the field.
“I think it’s been huge. Not only just for J.J.,, but he’s an energy ignitor of the whole building. He’s come back with a purpose and a mindset,” O’Connell said of Jefferson’s’ presence.
“We’re not where we want to be, but we’re going to be there when we need to,” McCarthy said, noting that he enjoyed being mic’d up alongside Jefferson at a recent Timberwolves playoff game.
On the field, it’s all about getting as many reps as possible with Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, Jalen Nailor, Brandon Powell, Tai Felton and every other weapon he has at his disposal.
“Just reps with receivers, finding that timing with all these guys. Just keep stacking day after day. Not trying to put it on ’em, but really trust them in and out of the cut and put the ball to a spot where it needs to be. It’s just all about feel and just getting those reps. That’s where the accuracy with come,” he said.
Stacking appears to be a key word in the Vikings vocabulary. McCarthy used it multiple times when talking with the media, and O’Connell deployed the verb when talking about McCarthy’s development.
“We can’t assume that he knows any particular thing just based upon the meeting room. We gotta come out and feel it and organically feel exactly where he’s at,” O’Connell said. “What I’ve been really surprised by is some of the things that he does know. You’re like, ‘man, we covered that in a 10-minute burst in Week 11 last year. How do you remember that?’ And then there are some other things where you’re like, ‘Oh, I assumed he knew that.’ So what’s our job? Baseline teaching and stacking days and layered learning so that we’re constantly making him feel like he’s growing, but never comfortable, never satisfied on any particular outcome because we’re building towards something much greater than just a single play here or there.”
Will Fries unlikely to be full force until training camp
Fries signed a five-year, $88 million deal with the Vikings in March. It was an investment the Vikings were comfortable making even though Fries is coming back from a surgically repaired tibia that he fractured in Week 5 of last season. The word from O’Connell is that Fries is unlikely to be 100% healthy until training camp.
“It’s almost hard to believe with how strong he is,” O’Connell said. “But we’re being really smart just with the injury that it was. Knowing how we handle the spring, I don’t know if we’ll see him fully active this spring. But I have no hesitation to say that I’m really excited to see him when he’s able to get out there, more than likely training camp, but there’s still a chance we could see him in some bits and pieces of work over the next two weeks. But he’s in a good spot.”