Vikings Fans Get the Tweet They’ve Wanted for 8 Months
One year ago, the Minnesota Vikings drafted Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy from Round 1 as their choice for the quarterback of the future after Kirk Cousins left the Twin Cities for the Atlanta Falcons via free agency.
Vikings Fans Get the Tweet They’ve Wanted for 8 Months
Fans rejoiced, embracing the new era at quarterback, as the Vikings hadn’t successfully drafted one since Daunte Culpepper — a quarter century ago.
The spring and early summer progressed nicely for McCarthy and the Vikings, eyeing a quarterback battle with veteran Sam Darnold that felt rather tangible in early August.
Then, disaster struck, as McCarthy tore his meniscus in his first-ever organized NFL game, a preseason tryst with the Las Vegas Raiders.
So, for eight months, Vikings fans awaited one tweet — and that arrived on Monday, just three days before the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Tweet
McCarthy is back, with no limitations. He’s ready to go. Here’s the tweet.
McCarthy’s injury recovery won’t be slow-rolled into the spring and summer, and the oddly panicky fears about his “second surgery” last December were merely internet-generated fear tactics.
The Vikings have their QB1 in McCarthy, and he is healthy.
Kevin O’Connell on J.J. McCarthy’s Attitude
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke for a few minutes about McCarthy, who arrived at the voluntary offseason program on Monday.
“I think he’s ready to hit the ground running as of today,” O’Connell said.
“He’s always working. I think the spring is set up perfectly for J.J., with where he’s at from a standpoint of Phase I really being in a classroom setting, running and lifting, and continuing what he’s been able to do. A lot of his teammates haven’t been here, now the group comes back, he continues that, and eventually gets on the field and we can start throwing and catching a little bit before finalizing those two-three weeks of OTAs and minicamp where you get a little dabble of that competitive feel — running the huddle, running the show.”
Attendance wasn’t required for all players in Eagan, but McCarthy, of course, showed up.
O’Connell added, “So, all of it is going to kind of be systematically planned out for him. And I think he’s ready to attack it.”
The Upcoming Process for McCarthy
O’Connell also divulged details about McCarthy’s process for the spring and summer: “Now it’s just a matter of applying it with teammates and with detail. And with repetition to try to apply those reps so we can start projecting what not only he can continue to improve at, what are the areas need to focus on? How can we craft this offense to make sure that we’re doing the things that he does well naturally while also challenging him to grow that pot of inventory that we can ultimately pull from?”
“It becomes a real more tangible day-in and day-out. We can create a world here where it might not feel like a checkpoint, it might not feel like another step in the process, but you’re stacking so many days and time with his teammates together, and just the growth through the installations and how do these quarterback first with those installations and his absorption of what we’re doing.”
The Vikings will hold rookie minicamp starting May 2nd, when a new draft class and undrafted free agents arrive.
Support around McCarthy
O’Connell, too, talked about the situation around McCarthy: “We’ve got a new center in Ryan Kelly, a veteran who’s going to be heavily involved in that aspect with the quarterback-center dynamic. And thankfully, we’ve got a lot of really high-quality skill players that J.J.’s already worked with in the past and thrown and caught with before.”
“So, it’ll be a matter of what do the Xs and Os look like when there’s not competitive games? What do the fundamentals and technique look like when we’re really just trying to harness growth? And then that development word comes in where we might not be talking in the same lens that we were in a year ago when everything was brand new.”
The Vikings added new offensive linemen in March to aid McCarthy, including Ryan Kelly from the Indianapolis Colts and Kelly’s teammate from Indianapolis, Will Fries.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could even draft another guard on Thursday night, perhaps North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel, Alabama’s Tyler Booker, or Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson.
O’Connell concluded, “That’s the beauty of the year we’ve had with him, albeit without the physical reps since the injury. But there’s been a lot of time on task and just once again want to credit J.J. for how he’s handled these last two, two-and-a-half, three months or so.”
Aaron Jones Has Thoughts, Too
O’Connell’s assessment wasn’t standalone. Running back Aaron Jones observed about McCarthy: “He looks great. I’ve seen him today moving around. He looks good in the weight room, looks good, confident. I’m very confident in him. He has all the support around him, and we’re here to lift him up, and he’s going to be ready to go.”
McCarthy’s predecessor, Sam Darnold, who now works for the Seattle Seahawks, produced 4.319 passing yards and 36 total touchdowns last season — big shoes to fill.
McCarthy turned 22 in January.
Irv Smith Jr. Rides Again
You must be logged in to post a comment.