J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings hope Sunday is the start of something special

As of now, McCarthy's entire body of work in the NFL is small and not pretty. Between a comeback win over the Bears and an ugly loss to the Falcons, he completed 24 of 41 passes for 301 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also ran seven times for 50 yards and a TD, took a whopping nine sacks on 55 total dropbacks, and lost a fumble. His passer rating is 67.2, which ranks 43rd out of 45 QBs with at least 20 dropbacks this season.

In the six-plus weeks since he last played, McCarthy has had plenty of time to reflect on what happened in his first two games. He recently re-watched the tape of both games again with head coach Kevin O'Connell, and there's a lot there for the 22-year-old to learn from.

"The biggest thing I took away was just how, we keep saying it, when we do the simple things right, what does the outcome look like?" McCarthy said. "So really just focusing on my process this week, going through the reads, making sure I'm taking the right footwork and staying kind of calm-minded and 'duck mentality' in terms of just how I go about each play in each situation. So it really just came down to the simple things and making sure we master that going into each and every week."

Despite the slow, injury-marred start to McCarthy's career, the Vikings haven't lost any of the belief they had in his upside when they drafted him two Aprils ago. As a rookie, he progressed rapidly over the course of the offseason, which was on display in his excellent 2024 preseason debut. When it was discovered that McCarthy had torn his meniscus in that game, O'Connell said Vikings fans should be encouraged that they had found their young franchise quarterback.

The merits of the decision can be debated in hindsight, but the Vikings wouldn't have let Sam Darnold leave in free agency after a 14-win season if they didn't have real confidence in McCarthy's talent, makeup, and long-term potential. There were expected ups and downs over the course of training camp this year, but the ups were real. He had some highly impressive days, including a joint practice with the Patriots where he lit up New England's secondary.

And after a slow start to his NFL debut in Chicago, including a pick-six, McCarthy showed all kinds of moxie and resilience by throwing two touchdown passes and running for another one on three consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter.

"I think we generated 170 yards in the final 17 minutes of the game," O'Connell said this week. "He had a ton to do with that just by simply being efficient with his feet and being accurate because of that and reading progressions and putting the ball in play and throwing completions. And then we were able to run the ball as well, and it kind of married all together."

The following week, McCarthy took six sacks and turned the ball over three times in an ugly performance against the Falcons. But the context of that outing is important. He missed practice that week for the birth of his son, and he finished the game playing on an ankle injury he didn't yet know would cost him substantial time. On top of that, no quarterback has thrown for more than 205 yards against Atlanta's defense so far this season.

Patience is going to be required with McCarthy for the rest of this year. It might not be pretty all the time, considering his lack of experience and the difficult schedule that begins this week against the Lions. What the Vikings simply want to see is growth and command of their offense. If that leads to wins, great, but the rest of this season isn't just about winning.

"He's had some time to obviously get back on the practice field and spend a lot of time with Josh
(McCown) and myself and our guys during practice, after practice, he's worked at it, and now we
get to continue, hopefully, the progression that we started the season on," O'Connell said. "Is it going to be perfect? No, and it doesn't have to be. It just needs to be clear and obvious to me that he's got a good grasp on doing his job, technique, fundamentals, progressions, and I believe in his talent and his ability that that will show up."

What it's going to come down to for McCarthy is controlling what he can control within the guidelines of playing quarterback in O'Connell's offense. He needs to play in rhythm and get the ball out of his hands, which is something he said he appreciated about watching Carson Wentz over the past five games. When McCarthy's mechanics are sound and his feet are tied to his eyes within the progression, his natural arm talent can do the rest. O'Connell talks about "base, body, balance position" being crucial.

"When he does that," O'Connell said, "there's been some really good visual evidence of him playing quarterback."

One interesting element for McCarthy moving forward will be knowing when to get rid of the ball quickly or even throw it away, and when to try use some of his natural athleticism to extend plays outside of the pocket and make things happen out of structure. That can be a tough balance to find, especially for a young player who, above all else, needs to stay healthy. His ankle injury occurred on a play against the Falcons where he took off and scrambled.

"He just needs reps," O'Connell said. "He just needs time of the repetition that you can't get with a VR headset on, you can't get answers to those questions, necessarily. ... We've talked about it, and I think (mobility) is part of his game, though. I think it's an underrated part of his game. But that mindset of protecting myself within the sequence of the down, where we can not only be in position for the next down, but we maintain the ability for him to keep playing quarterback, is critical."

Through the ups and downs, McCarthy hasn't lost confidence. He's been biding his time on the sidelines, anxiously awaiting this opportunity to show what he can do.

"Extremely confident," he said. "Every time we step out there. It's the work that we put in every single week. It's the trust in my teammates and coaches. And all of that's been at an all-time high. It sucks not being able to get the reps and be able to continue to progress all the fundamentals and all the little things. But there was a lot of areas that I picked up and think I benefited from, just watching and observing from the sidelines. Extremely confident and ready to get after it."