Vikings HC gives surprising Sam Darnold, J.J. McCarthy competition update

Veteran Sam Darnold spent the first week of training camp as the Minnesota Vikings' first-team quarterback and remains on track to start the club's regular-season opener at the New York Giants on Sept. 8 over rookie J.J. McCarthy.

During a Tuesday NFL Network appearance, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell offered an update on his practice plans regarding what may or may not be a legitimate competition for the QB1 job.

"I think we set up a plan to give both those guys a ton of reps throughout training camp," O'Connell explained, as shared by Kevin Patra of the league's website. "I did feel like Sam, through his work in the spring and where he's at in his career, earned the right to have the bulk of the first-team reps early on, but we've got a plan to get J.J. some reps as well."

O'Connell's revelation was somewhat surprising considering, as Patra put it, "O'Connell has backed Darnold as the starting quarterback to open the season" since the beginning of springtime workouts. 

Darnold only joined the club back in March, so one would think he would continue to get work with the ones through at least Minnesota's first preseason game versus the Las Vegas Raiders on Aug. 10.

"Listen, I'm so excited about J.J. McCarthy," O'Connell noted. "He's confirmed in every possible way what we had hoped and really proven in a lot of ways early on to be even more than we hoped from the standpoint of the type of person and player we brought in."

With that said, O'Connell was sure to add he's pleased with how Darnold has performed as the team's unofficial starter.

"...I think Sam's in a great spot in his career to have a chance to be the best version of himself with guys like [wide receiver Justin Jefferson, receiver Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson] around him, our offensive line, continuity up front and just our entire team, the way it comes together, hopefully playing good football, staying true to who we want to be and how we want to win games," O'Connell said of Darnold.

Patra pointed out that "Darnold is still in line to start Week 1" as of the final day of July. However, it sounds like the door is at least cracked for McCarthy to make things interesting heading into the exhibition matchup versus the Raiders.