We are days away from the Minnesota Vikings beginning training camp and that will give us our first extended look at J.J. McCarthy as the starting quarterback. We got to see him somewhat in both minicamp and training camp last year with some clips having circulated from this year's offseason.
We got to see some more clips this week, as McCarthy was working out locally with multiple people, including former Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen.
I think I speak for most #Vikings fans, wishing they could see J.J. McCarthy throw passes to Adam Thielen on Sundays this fall.
— Alec Ausmus (@A_TwiceKSTP) July 17, 2025
I got to watch McCarthy throw to Thielen today, Thielen says McCarthy's "got it."@KSTPSports pic.twitter.com/vA6gKvMoUK
Local ABC affiliate KSTP-5 was at the field where they were practicing and spoke with Thielen, who had some glowing words about McCarthy.
"He's got all the things it takes to be a successful player in this league, and kind of the things that we talked about about how I've gotten to year thirteen, he's already got it. He's got consistency, he's got that mindset. He's got all the skills to be able to play at a high level. So I'm really excited now, my second summer working with him, to see him get an opportunity, and to see what he does with the opportunity, because I see it. Now, on the field, just his mindset, and all the things that it takes to be to be a great core mechanism League, and I've been around a lot of great ones. He has everything you need, so I'm excited to see."
Thielen working out with McCarthy hasn't been a secret. As he said above, he worked out with McCarthy last season as well. It's pretty common for players to workout with those on other teams when they are in the same area. Thielen is from Minnesota and likely still resides in the state during the summers.
Now, could his words also mean that he has interest in returning to the Vikings at some point? With the logjam the Panthers currently have at wide receiver, it's becoming more likely now than it has been in the past.
Either way, more praise for McCarthy is always a good thing.
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