JJ McCarthy’s honest take on first day of practice will fire up Vikings fans

arterThe Minnesota Vikings are going to have a new look on offense this year, and that was assured the moment the team decided that it didn’t want to bring Kirk Cousins back as the QB1. Once Cousins signed with the Atlanta Falcons, the Vikings signed Sam Darnold to serve as the team’s stand-in quarterback. That may not be the way the Vikings have described it, but general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell want first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy to earn the starting quarterback position before he is inserted into the lineup.

The quarterback has not done that yet, but he had his first day competing on the practice field with the Vikings, and it appeared to be a success. McCarthy participated in a 16-play drive, and he was able to show off his arm talent as he went under center.

According to the rules set out before the practice, if there were four or more incomplete passes during the drive, the offense would run gassers at the conclusion of practice. But if there were three or less, the defense would run.

Reports indicated only three of the passes hit the ground, but McCarthy was out there running with the defense anyway.

The rookie quarterback wanted to show his grasp on the Vikings offense because he has been able to take part in video calls with coaches and he has gotten somewhat familiar with the way the Vikings want the offense to look next season.

“It didn’t feel like my first day,” he said. “I’ve been going over the offense for a long time now. So being able to go out there and perform and execute, that’s new, but it was nothing that was overwhelming or too much.”

Major changes for the Vikings in the offseason

While McCarthy is attempting to learn the offense with the hope that he will be able to play early in the season for the Vikings, the coaching staff does not plan on rushing him into the lineup before he is ready.

Darnold is entering his 7th season in the NFL and he has the ability to read defenses and come up with the right call based on what he sees. He has played with the Jets, Panthers and 49ers, and while his career record of 21-35-0 is not impressive, he has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes throughout his career.

The Vikings hope to support Darnold or J.J. McCarthy with a better ground game than they had last season. The Vikings added former Packers running back Aaron Jones in the offseason, and he is capable of breaking key runs between the tackles.

Jones has had three seasons rushing for 1,000 yards or more in his career. He had his highest yardage total in 2022 when he had 213 carries for 1,121 yards with 2 TDs. However, he had a remarkable season in 2019 when he had 236 carries for 1,084 yards and a league-best 16 rushing touchdowns.