Kevin O’Connell Has New Message for J.J. McCarthy
Just let ‘er rip: That’s the refined message from Kevin O’Connell for Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy this weekend, as the purple team hopes to avoid a fifth consecutive loss.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell has a new directive for J.J. McCarthy, telling the rookie to cut loose and push the ball while mechanics develop later.
O’Connell has worked on mechanics with the young quarterback ad nauseam this season, and it’s time to just play ball, evidently.
Decision-Making Now, Mechanics Later for J.J. McCarthy
It feels like a new strategy for McCarthy.
O’Connell’s Advice for the Young Quarterback
Throw and catch — that’s what the Vikings have on the agenda for their young quarterback this weekend against the lowly Washington Commanders. Much of the concern around McCarthy’s putrid six-game start to his career has focused on mechanics. For the time being, mechanics will be addressed at a later date. No more overcoaching.
O’Connell told media members on Wednesday, “I want him to have a clear mind and just go play, but with an understanding of the decisions that I make with the ball in my hand. The decisions that I make as a passer, as we’ve learned, very imitative as a runner to protect himself and make sure that we can keep him in there.”
“If the fundamentals need to be changed, if they need to be adjusted, if we need more time on task on that, that’s one thing. But let’s just make the throws. Let’s just throw and catch. Let’s just play with great rhythm and understanding of the plan.”
Through 13 weeks, McCarthy ranks as the very worst quarterback in the NFL per EPA+CPOE, so O’Connell will hope the simple strategy eases that pain.
Five Games to See Upside
It has been typed on this website before, with little luck thereafter. Now is go-time for McCarthy.
His volume stats, efficiency metrics, mechanics, and eye-test evaluations have failed through six starts, aside from some heroic moments against the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions.
McCarthy returns to a Vikings offense that is absolutely begging for average quarterback play. McCarthy’s first six games have been so terrible that he has to play “bad” first to take the next step. He hasn’t even met the “bad” criteria through six starts; “horrendous” is a better term.
McCarthy must go from horrendous to bad to average to good to hopefully elite. It’s a long way of saying the guy just needs to complete basic passes.
An Underwhelming Opponent
The Commanders raced to the 2024 NFC Championship in Jayden Daniels‘ rookie season, but in 2025, they’re back to playing like “the Commanders” — quite poorly and owning a 3-9 record.
So, what’s going on? Well, Daniels has not replicated his Offensive Rookie of the Year performance as a sophomore. He’s also been injured. Moreover, Dan Quinn’s defense also stinks. The group ranks 27th in the NFL per DVOA through 13 weeks — also known as sixth-worst.
While McCarthy is not guaranteed to cook against any NFL team, Washington’s defense presents an “easy test” by normal standards.
Stay Healthy!
Finally, McCarthy must stay healthy. He’s missed 23 of 28 eligible games in the pros, most recently absent from the Week 13 horror show at Lumen Field against the Seattle Seahawks. Yes, McCarthy has missed 82% of all Vikings games since being drafted.
In addition to posting a semi-competent outing, McCarthy must stay upright and be available for the following game, a Sunday Night Football showdown at the Dallas Cowboys.
McCarthy already has the “bust” lingo circulating about his on-the-field play; another injury would shoot that narrative into the solar system.
SI.com on McCarthy
Will Ragatz of SI.com wrote this week, “What it sounds like O’Connell is saying there is that the focus on mechanics can wait until the offseason, when that will be a big piece of the puzzle for McCarthy. That’s something that’s going to require significant time and practice reps to shape. But right now, as he prepares to face the Commanders, it can’t be occupying too much space in his mind.”
“He needs to try to slow the game down and simply go play quarterback the way he knows how to play the position. That approach makes all kinds of sense. To ask a young QB to change his fundamentals on the fly, while dealing with everything else that comes with adjusting to the NFL, is too difficult.”
Max Brosmer, who also stunk last week, is the QB2 in Week 14.
Ragatz added, “A couple weeks ago, McCarthy talked about how he was ‘rewiring neurological pathways‘ in learning how to play quarterback a different way than how he was taught before landing in Minnesota. It feels fair to assume that trying to think about a thousand different things at once has contributed to the results we’ve seen from him on Sundays. Some of McCarthy’s best moments this year have come with the Vikings in two-minute mode.”
“In Week 11 against the Bears, his one great drive of the day occurred in the final three minutes with the Vikings trailing by six and using tempo. That may have been an example of McCarthy simply playing football without having too much information to process in the moment.”
McCarthy has yet to bank a home win as Minnesota’s starting quarterback.
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