NFL Insider Urges Patience from Fans in J.J. McCarthy’s Development
The 2025 regular season hasn’t exactly gotten off to a great start for Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy.
The QB has completed 58% of his passes for 301 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions while adding seven carries for 50 yards and another touchdown. McCarthy is also set to miss at least this Sunday’s game due to a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 2’s loss.
Obviously, Minnesota Vikings fans have wanted to see a little bit more out of J.J. McCarthy over the first two games of the regular season. However, one NFL analyst is preaching patience as the 22-year-old continues to develop.
Vikings Fans Should Trust the Process with J.J. McCarthy
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated urged Vikings fans to take a breath following Minnesota’s ugly Week 2 loss against the Atlanta Falcons.
“I think too often what happens in these situations is we judge everybody in a vacuum. We judge everybody based on what they’re doing on a week-to-week basis, which we have to do. Everybody’s got column inches to fill. Everybody’s got airtime to occupy. The reality is, too often these guys aren’t given enough patience. And I think we saw the flashes from J.J. on that Monday night against Chicago in the fourth quarter. We have to give him time to develop,” Breer said.
This seems to be the sentiment among many Vikings fans, but in angry pockets of social media, there have been a few to express frustration with McCarthy through his first two starts.
McCarthy showed in his debut that he is capable of coming back and winning a football game despite making a few mistakes earlier in the game. He can flush it all away and make a few incredible throws.
We also have to consider that injuries have not exactly been in Minnesota’s favor early in the season. The Vikings lost their star linebacker Blake Cashman after the Week 1 win, Christian Darrisaw hasn’t played yet this season nor has Jordan Addison, and Ryan Kelly left Week 2 with a concussion meaning McCarthy was taking snaps from Michael Jurgens at center. Making matters worse, the Vikings finished Week 2 with third-string left tackle Walter Rouse when Justin Skule also left the game.
A third-string left tackle and a center taking his first NFL offensive snaps is not a recipe for success against a defensive front that includes names like Ruke Orhorhoro, David Onyemata, Leonard Floyd and Kaden Elliss.
Finally, as Breer also mentioned in his video, we have to keep in mind that McCarthy missed the entirety of his rookie season because of his knee injury. Essentially, McCarthy is a rookie this season, and there are always ups and downs over the course of a rookie quarterback’s season.
The biggest concern with McCarthy at this point resides in his injury history as he potentially could now miss 20 of his first 22 potential games because of the various injuries he’s suffered over the first two seasons of his career.
Still, as long as McCarthy stays healthy, fans should remain hopeful that he can turn his performance around once the team around him gets fully healthy.
For now, though, Minnesota will ride with the Carson Wentz show when they take on the Bengals on Sunday.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Reference.
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