Vikings Countdown to a Starting QB Is Now Known
Even though there is a quarterback mystery for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 7, head coach Kevin O’Connell says there is not, in fact, a mystery.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell insisted on Tuesday that his team won’t make their quarterback plan mysterious for Week 7, with the Eagles afoot.
O’Connell spoke with KFAN’s Paul Allen this week and batted back theories about a quarterback mystery.
No QB Mystery, Says Vikings Skipper Kevin O’Connell
You’ll know soon, the man claims.
Vikings Won’t Drag QB Decision All the Way to Sunday
For starters, in a lengthy chat, Allen asked O’Connell if there was any chance that fans wouldn’t know the starting quarterback’s identity until Sunday morning. O’Connell replied, “No, I don’t think so.”
That means the decision should be announced or strongly insinuated by Friday, at the latest.
“There’s no mystery here. It’s really not that. I hope people understand. It’s a little more real than that. It’s a little bit more me trying to do what’s best for our team, but also,” O’Connell continued, and then mentioned McCarthy, “this player’s very important. Important to me, and I feel obligated to make sure I always am doing the things to help him stay on the path to where we think he’s going as a player and why we brought him here.”
Per O’Connell, this thing isn’t that mysterious in his estimation.
O’Connell on J.J. McCarthy
The coach also remarked on McCarthy’s progress: “We went out there and just really breaking a lot of things down to core principles of playing the position. And then repping things, drilling things, and figuring out what was causing him to maybe still feel that ankle more often times than other things that he was doing. We were trying to use that as part rehab, part getting football acclimation back going.”
“There’s just a lot of time on task of the muscle memory of our offense of playing that position, where we’re trying to make up for that time lost. He’ll get a great opportunity this week to get back into the team reps and start getting himself to a place where we know he’s going to go out and play well.”
McCarthy must return to the field sooner rather than later or risk another lost season after missing his rookie season due to a torn meniscus.
O’Connell added, “It’s not just getting him back and throwing him back out there as much as it is getting him to a place — and that could be this week, that could be something where a lot of things go in a direction where it leads that way.”
Health Remains a Factor for Both QBs
While some onlookers might try to make the starting quarterback a binary choice between the talents of McCarthy and Wentz, health is the looming factor that might take the cake this week.
“Look, we got out on the practice field yesterday, and it was a lighter workload compared to what it’ll be Wednesday when we put the pads on and have a full session,” O’Connell said.
“You’re talking a significant amount of time as we prepare our team, but also work through, allowing these guys to get the reps that they need, both J.J. and Carson, to get them both ready. Also, understanding they’re both not 100% healthy and they’re working through their individual things.”
It’s a Friday Verdict, Folks
Because O’Connell told Allen that the QB1 choice wouldn’t bleed into the weekend or all the way to kickoff, a starter should be known by Friday. That’s when the final injury report comes out, and by then, folks will have seen who practiced the most with starters.
With McCarthy, the Vikings will get the angle that his development will resume, eager to erase the memory of a dreadful game in Week 2. For Wentz, well, he could face the team that drafted him in 2016 and discarded him in 2021.
There are layers.
Judd Zulgad on the QB Countdown
SKOR North‘s Judd Zulgad weighed in on the Vikings’ countdown Monday: “Of course, someone will have to get the majority of the first-team reps in practice when preparations for the Eagles game begin on Wednesday, but a coach often wants to keep this quiet to see if it can give his team an edge. O’Connell even said Monday that the public decision on the starter can be different than ‘what we’re going to do for the game.'”
“Translation: Everyone in the Vikings’ building can know who will start, but O’Connell wants to keep the public, and the Eagles, guessing. Just because O’Connell didn’t answer the question on Monday doesn’t close the door for speculation on whether McCarthy or Wentz will be the Vikings’ starter in Week 7.”
For now, with quarterback uncertainty, Minnesota is a 1.5-point underdog against Philadelphia this weekend.
Wentz faced the Eagles one other time in his career in 2022 as the Washington Commanders’ QB1. His team lost 24-8 while the Eagles sacked him 9 times.
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