J.J. McCarthy Press Conference | October 15, 2025 | Vikings vs. Eagles

J.J. McCarthy Press Conference | October 15, 2025 | Vikings vs. Eagles

It’s great to see you guys as always. Um, felt great to be out there with the guys. You know, there’s nothing better than being out there and getting better at our craft and being together as a unit. You know, honestly, just feel really special. You know, something with this group, just the connectedness, the persistence, the discipline, all the things that, you know, make really good football teams. So, we got to continue to keep stacking those days, keep building those invisible habits, and we’ll be in a good spot. But, we’re just taking it moment to moment moment and trying to get better every way we can. So, open it up. be back out here for you. Amazing. I mean, just being able to be around the guys and out on the field, like, it’s one thing to be in the meeting rooms with them in the wait room, in the training room, but when you’re actually out there watching the ball spin, seeing it caught and calling a play and doing all those fundamentals and uh all that stuff. Yeah, it’s a lot of fun to be back out there. How much have you done with the team since your your injury? I mean, like when you’re overseas, could you participate at all in practice or in the by-week? Are you able to do anything? So I didn’t participate at all in practice overseas. It was really just like how can we catch up again because you know going on an 8 hour flight there’s going to be some more swelling and you might be you know pushed back a couple days but just be able to you know optimize that time as much as possible to get the swelling down and get everything figured out. But it was great to just be out there you know kind of on a 10day fall camp kind of trip with the guys and be able to spend that great off the- field time with them. So that’s uh yeah, it was a lot of fun. When it first happened, did you think it was going to be like a month or so before you back out practicing again? Like in the Atlanta game? Yeah. Like the next even the next morning, did you think it was going to be a process that took this long? You know, the way it felt, it’s kind of uncertain. I’ve never felt a high ankle before. I’ve had low ankles, but you know, just based off of, you know, what a a lot of wellrespected second opinions have said. They said it’s, you know, 4 to six, 2 to six, all this stuff. So, you know, I feel like it was going to be in that range and, you know, we’re still in that range and it’s unfortunate and they’re really annoying injuries. Uh, but yeah, we’re just continuing to work to get to 100% as quick as possible. Whirlwind was that time obviously second game coming off that Monday night birth of your son, the injury, like how much of a whirlwind was that for you? For sure whirlwind. Um, very unique situation, a lot of firsts and, you know, just being able to have that strong, you know, core family members and teammates and coaches that I could lean on in those moments. It was huge and, uh, you know, hopefully we could plan things out a little bit better next time and, you know, go for baby number two in the offseason. So, yeah. How would you describe how the ankle’s doing now? Uh, ankle is, you know, it’s it’s getting there. I wouldn’t say it’s 100% right now, but, you know, we’re striving every day to get there as fast as possible. So, Do you think it’s where you can play? Me selfishly, I’m going to play if it was, you know, off or not, but you know, we got to be smart here and understand, you know, there’s a lot of things that go into place and, you know, at the end of the day, I’m just going to do what I’m told and try to get better as fast as possible. So, take away from last week, just the time you got to spend with Kevin and and Josh kind of in that setting. It was really awesome because, you know, it was that kind of one-on-one quarterback training uh type session that you don’t really get at this level. And especially with someone like, you know, Coach Okonnell and Coach Macau, it was really, you know, awesome to soak all that in and just get back to, you know, the fundamentals. You know, everyone in this position and, you know, other positions and other professions, they’re always working on perfecting that part of their craft, the fundamentals, the basics. So, it was just awesome to, you know, get back on the field and spin it, but get that wisdom and advice from those guys. Is there anything that you’ve taken away watching Carson the last few weeks? Things that you gleaned that maybe opened your eyes about anything? For sure. I would say just, you know, his uh you could tell by his experience with the anticipation in the windows, with the quickness of when the ball’s getting out of his hand. Just little things that he does pre- snap that he’s been, you know, kind of telling me about. We’re reading certain plays, seeing different leverages from certain, you know, secondary defenders and, you know, just the the timing of everything is something that I’ve been really impressed with and, you know, took a lot from. Do you think you’ll be active on Sunday? Do you even know if they’ll activate you or is not far enough down the road? I really don’t know. Yeah. At the end of the day, I don’t know what I’m having for dinner tonight. So, I just try to stay moment by moment, but I trust that they’re going to do the best thing possible for this team and, you know, for the longevity of my career. Is there anything that your fundamentals had slipped slipped in just from the time that you you know you away from things and then you got back out last week had they like slipped or did you have some things you needed to tighten up or It’s really hard to say if they slipped just because my ankle isn’t 100%. So it’s like you know you’re battling that mental hurdle. You’re battling you know how inhibited am I to perform the certain movement. So, it’s really hard to say if it’s slipped or not, but you know, it’s one of those things where it’s just a seesaw for the rest of your career. So, it’s going to be fine-tuning regardless of, you know, how well you perform or how well you don’t. So, how are you handling that part of the the confidence in the ankle and doing those movements and things when you haven’t had this high spin report? So, what Tyler has been saying in the training room, it’s all about stressing these and making sure like you put it in a situation where it’s like, “Oo, I felt that and I know I’m fine after feeling that.” So, it constantly you just kind of keep pressing that bandwidth of like pain tolerance and, you know, mobility of that uh muscle, joint, whatever it is that you’re trying to heal up. So, yeah. Do you run as much now? Like, I mean, we we’ve talked about that part of your game, which is important, but you also got hurt doing it. So, like what’s your thought process now as far as taking off and trying to get yards that way? Just understanding, you know, the situation of the game. Is it fourth and one where I should go run through someone or is it, you know, second and 15 and, you know, I’m getting close to the sideline and get out, you know, three yards earlier instead of try to get those extra three yards. So, little uh decisions when I have the ball in my hand in open space to get down and, you know, protect myself more. That’s going to be something I’m definitely going to work on. JJ, when you reflect on the first two games, just is there anything specific that you learned in game or that you found out in game that maybe you didn’t know uh back in practice or back in training camp? Uh when I was watching? No, just yeah. As you reflected on the way you played the first two games. Oh, the first two games. Yeah. I would say, you know, it comes down to the fundamentals, you know, like there’s so many instances where, you know, whether it’s a third down play or, you know, a screen on second and 10 where it just comes down to us executing the little things and, you know, all 11 being on the same page. So, it’s just, you know, it’s really uh everyone wants a complex way of just how is this going to work, but it just comes down to the basics. So, we’re just really focused on that. Outside outside playing in games, what’s the next best way to prepare for a game? Is it is it practice time throwing to receivers? Is it video study? Is it being coach? What’s the next best thing you can do? I would say practice time. You know, just always repping those plays and live action. But for me personally, I think visualization helps a lot because it’s just how unlimited it is the reps you could do in your mind against unlimited looks. And you know, I feel like that’s been something that’s helped me a lot my entire career and it’s helped a lot of other athletes and a lot of different realms of sport. And yeah, I’d say that you talked about taking some of the timing stuff from Carson. How hard is that to I guess simulate beyond just being in it like with the pass rush with the environment? How hard is to simulate without that kind of? Yeah, it’s extremely hard. Like you could sit there with your VR goggles and do it a billion times, but if you don’t feel it and you don’t have that, you know, I’m going to get hit kind of, you know, uh, emotion arise, um, it makes it difficult. But at the end of the day, you know, working in, you know, some scout team reps and feeling that rush from our defense and really just like feeling that timing of everything has been huge. So, yeah, just got to be live in-game reps to get the most out of it. Just generally speaking, where is your confidence at kind of this week and moving forward? Confidence in terms of all of it aggregate. Oh, always confident through the roof. Um, you know, obviously got a great team around me. Got great coaches and, you know, full confidence in my abilities and belief in myself, but at the end of the day, you know, it’s the NFL. Sometimes you get dealt a bad hand and, you know, you got to deal with certain situations, but, you know, I always have a positive attitude through everything and confident I’m going to come out better on the end of it. Thanks everybody. Thank you guys.

Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy addressed the media from TCO Performance Center ahead of the team’s Week 7 game against the Eagles.

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