J.J. McCarthy Explains What Changed During Recent Improvement
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy struggled earlier in the season but has been excellent over the past two weeks. This week, he spoke to the media at a press conference and outlined what has changed for him.
J.J. McCarthy Points to Main Reason for His Improvement
McCarthy has been in the spotlight this year, no wonder, after replacing Pro Bowler Sam Darnold in the starting lineup. In his first year as a starter, he hasn’t had much success, but the move was a long-term decision rather than a one-year plan.
Either way, the passer was fantastic in both games against the NFC East competition, the Washington Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys. Given the visible improvement, he was asked on Wednesday whether the game had slowed down for him.
He responded, “Yes, sir. Dramatically. Obviously, the more reps you see, the live bullets, but like I talked about, the overall understanding of the offense, it slows everything down tremendously because you’re not using that extra thinking of, ‘The ball’s snapped, I have it in my hands, is he running that route?’ So it eliminates those split-second miscues and processing. That’s helped tremendously throughout the year.”
McCarthy had only six passing touchdowns and ten interceptions in his first six career games. Over the last two games, he scored five times through the air, once on the ground, and only registered one interception early in the game against the Cowboys.
Though his mechanics are still all over the place, McCarthy’s passes mostly arrived at his target accurately and on time.
The young passer added after watching the tape, “Every play felt in sync. It felt on time. It didn’t feel like there was any indecisiveness, and when there was, and I couldn’t see over the line or something like that, I was dishing the ball out and just putting it in play. I feel like that growth was something that really stood out.”
Better pocket management and getting rid of the ball quicker were part of his success, he noted.
“Emphasizing where my outlets are, and checkdowns. Just knowing where to scramble. It’s one thing to get out of a fight-or-flight situation, but it’s another thing to, not necessarily predetermined, but just be aware of where the slide’s going, where the man side is. Because that’s usually going to be where the gaps are going to open up. And what concepts are over there? What routes are over there? So just understanding the offense more as a whole has helped tremendously.”
After six uneven starts, the Vikings adjusted McCarthy’s developmental focus, emphasizing decision-making over mechanics.
It’s still only two games, and those were against underwhelming defenses. However, it’s impossible to come away from those games without acknowledging the encouraging play.
McCarthy has three more games to send the message to the decision-makers that he doesn’t need any high-profile competitor next to him and establish himself as the quarterback of the future.
His remaining three chances will be on Sunday in New York, followed by home games against the Lions and Packers, where the Vikings could play spoilers.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.