Whether it’s J.J. McCarthy’s feet and eyes, posture at the top of his drop, arm angle, or decisiveness, the microscope is on the 22-year-old quarterback following a very rough outing in Minnesota’s 19-17 loss to the Bears in Week 11.
Social media, the epicenter of overreaction, may be clouding the truth about McCarthy. Is he as bad as some of his incompletions and interceptions make him look, or is he as good as he’s been late in games when the pressure is really high? Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell explained Tuesday how fans can gauge McCarthy’s progress without overreacting.
“We’re all just looking for continued evidence of the growth that he can take some of the things that he’s working very hard on the practice field. To make, as the phrase that I have been using with him, we gotta start seeing the cement dry on some of the things that we’ve really worked hard to make football habits from a fundamentals and technique standpoint,” O’Connell said during an interview with Paul Allen on KFAN-FM 100.3.
“I think something Vikings fans can look for is when he gets to the top of his drops, we’re really trying to see if we can get him to be in a little more of a repeatable body position. What I mean by that is the posture of a firm, but athletic kind of lower half. We don’t really like when his feet get too far outside the framework of his body. And that happened a couple times the other day that contributed to maybe some of the accuracy. His feet got a little bit wide, his base got really wide.”
Subscribe: Sign up to receive the free Vikings On SI newsletter
Nov 16, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) throws downfield during the first quarter against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
McCarthy has completed 52.9% of his passes this season for 842 yards. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), he boasts an impressive big-time throw rate of 6.6%, but his turnover-worthy play percentage is 6.1%.
“The other thing to look for is when he looks decisive, and in the ground, compact, where he’s not really taking up a lot of space with his movements, as he kind of goes from 1A to 1B or 1 to 2 before finding his checkdowns. When he has done it consistently well, it’s normally tied to, it’s got a look to it of firmness, but not tight, not rigid. It’s kinda got a fluidity to it where you kinda know he’s able to activate the arm talent from a standpoint of taking out a lot of variables.”
O’Connell says that when McCarthy loses focus on his fundamentals, he instantly makes his job harder than it has to be.
“It’s just a matter of applying those things with discipline every single snap,” O’Connell said. “Fundamentally, he’s tying a hand behind his back at times with giving himself an opportunity to be as accurate as he can be.”
“You can’t be thinking about your fundamentals and techniques in those moments. If you are, that’s going to be pulling away from your ability to play fast and be aggressive with your arm, because it’s going to slow everything down in the process,” O’Connell added. “So we’ve got to continue to try to make that habit, and let the concrete dry, as I say.”
Minnesota is 2-3 in games that McCarthy has started. Developing a young quarterback isn’t an exact science, but O’Connell seems to have his finger on what’s ailing McCarthy in the early stages of his career.
