Vikings HC Defends J.J. McCarthy After Falcons Loss, ‘Learning on the Fly Right Now’

Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell doesn’t want to overreact after quarterback J.J. McCarthy had a day to forget in a 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

O’Connell told reporters after the game the Vikings are still working through their “process,” per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.

“Our young quarterback is going to make some plays. He’s going to make some unbelievable throws,” the coach said. “… And then, other times, he’s going to have an attempt and just miss something a little long, and we will go back and try to fix it. Sometimes, the fundamentals are going to be right, the technique is going to be right, but he’s learning on the fly right now. The way you overcome that is by the full group’s execution level being to a certain standard that we can go try to compete and win with.”

McCarthy finished 11-of-21 for 158 yards and two interceptions as the Vikings mustered 198 total yards of offense.

Set aside the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears in a 27-24 Week 1, and the 2024 first-round pick hasn’t looked great.

Of course, the obvious caveats apply. We’re only two games into a 17-game season, and McCarthy spent all of what should’ve been his rookie year recuperating from a meniscus injury.

The 22-year-old is trying to take everything in stride.

“We’ve got a lot to do,” he said, per Seifert. “I’ve got a lot to do personally. There’s a lot of things about this game that show up. It’s awesome to be part of such a great group where I know we’re going to grow together, I know we’re going to learn together. There’s a lot of love in that locker room. That’s what it comes down to. This is a long season. Everyone is telling me this is a frickin’ journey, and I believe them wholeheartedly.”

Veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen, who worked out with McCarthy in the offseason before his trade back to Minnesota, echoed O’Connell’s faith in the inexperienced passer.

“He’s built for this,” Thielen said. “That’s why they fell in love with him in the draft process, and why we all are so confident in him because he’s legitimately built for that. It’s going to be a process as a team, like it is every year. You just keep going to work and learning from the good things and learning from the bad times, and keep building every single week.”

Having everybody in the locker room on the same page about McCarthy will certainly help.

Any player will be frustrated when his quarterback is sacked six times and completes just over 50 percent of his passes. But that has to be balanced with an understanding of where McCarthy is in his career.

Growing pains were inevitable.

If the same issues are still there in another month or two, it will be fair to start asking some more critical questions.

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