J.J. McCarthy takes ownership of Vikings loss to Ravens

J.J. McCarthy takes ownership of Vikings loss to Ravens

you all as always. Um, obviously very disappointing uh to come out US Bank Stadium and leave with a loss, but you know, I felt like there was a lot of good things that we did. You know, 360 yards total offense, 6.6 yards of play or something like that. It was there. We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot and, you know, I take full responsibility for the pre- snap, you know, procedural penalties. Um, you know, we got three turnovers and just, you know, too many things that, you know, don’t set us up for success, you know, when the clock hits zero. So, we just got to go back to work, watch this film, and, you know, really clean up all the little things cuz that’s what hurt us today. Jay, you said you you take responsibility for pre- snap. Just like why or how how what was what did you see that was leading to all of the pre- snap moments? As a quarterback, you’re the orchestrator of the orchestra. You know, I take full responsibility for anything that happens on that field. And uh, you know, at the end of the day, it’s just the little things that we got to keep focusing on. The, you know, the focus, the competitive stamina, it’s all got to be there. But I take full responsibility every single time something goes wrong. Did you feel like it was a cadence thing or I guess was there a theme? Do you feel like to be honest with you? I have no idea. Alex uh Alec uh I just feel like you know there’s little things that show up that you don’t prepare for and we just got to do a better job responding when things go that way. So yeah, but it’s all on me. JJ, just in terms of the connection with Jaylen Naylor, why why do you think that worked today? I said it since week one. You know, Speedy was going to show up one of these days and, you know, showed up last week on the big play on third and five and, you know, had a heck of a game today, but, you know, he’s somebody that always just, you know, sticks to his process, does all the little things right, does the dirty work and, you know, doesn’t complain at all and he’s a tremendous football player. Absolutely love the human being that he is. And, uh, yeah, there’s going to be a lot more games like that for Speedy Naylor. Any common threads for why you had that many balls tipped to the line of scrimmage or batted down? And I think they did a great job defensively. You know, I feel like they uh used, you know, the big guys up front to, you know, give a little push and then just, you know, get eyes up ready to swat the ball down. And, you know, I got to do a better job of making sure that I’m aware of that and, you know, when I step up in the pocket, don’t get too close to those guys. And, uh, you know, work on all the different arm angles, but at the end of the day, you know, they just were a great defense. And, you know, it was a great test for us as an offense to be able to see what it looks like against a great AFCU team. And uh you know, we just gota you know, allow those not allow those little things like that and pre- snap penalties to have an effect on our offense. JJ, Kevin talked a little bit about you might have been using a little more hard count today. Obviously, you can do that at home when you’re having issues with false starts and that kind of thing. Do you change how much you you go to the hard count knowing that that’s been an issue for the offensive line in the game? I feel like the defense thinks the same way when it comes to that. So, it’s just the level of focus. like you know it’s as simple as remember the snap count and execute it when the ball is snapped and you know we’re we pride ourselves as you know a great offense and those little things those foundational things we just got to always make sure we’re consistent with those so you know regardless of what happens we just got to you know maintain that focus for 60 minutes JJ is anything you could think you could do differently you know going into the half you guys had the ball could have scored then you could have scored coming out of the half and the went opposite for you guys. For sure. Yeah, I thought it was a beautiful example for me to learn from because, you know, last week, uh, when Barnes sacked me in my red zone, that was a time to throw the ball away and this was the time to take a sack. You know, with 40 seconds left, keep that clock running, make them use a timeout or something like that. Um, it’s just all things about, you know, growing in this great game of football. And all experiences that I take that data and collect it and then use it for the next time. That’s the second, you’re talking about the second and five or third and five. I think it was third down. Yeah, but I threw it away. And you’re just trying to get it back in the line of scrimmage, just take the sack there. Yeah, just take the sack. Keep the clock running. Um, yeah. How do you learn that? I mean, you you probably know that, but whatever things are going. So, if you haywire, it’s just instinct, I guess. At what point does a quarterback learn that that’s what you should have done and and do it? I feel like the greatest learning tool for anybody, regardless of position, regardless of profession, is experience. And, you know, this is my fourth football game. This is the first time I’ve been in a situation like that where, you know, it was take a sack or throw it away. So, I feel like, you know, it’s just the first opportunity where I could collect that data and then use it for the next time. KJ, as you look back on that game right now, are there any throws or decisions that maybe stick out to you that you’d want back? No, there’s a lot of them. Uh, I just feel like, you know, there’s so much on the tape that it’s going to reveal, but, you know, the amount of tip balls that happened today at the line of scrimmage, those are just absolutely killer. And it’s a credit to them up front. You know, they played a tremendous game. They had a tremendous game plan. Threw the kitchen sink at us in terms of coverage pressures, new looks. Um, but yeah, it’s just the little things like that. I think it’s the worst play in football, at tip ball at the line of scrimmage. But, you know, that’s what it is. And, you know, I definitely want those back. JJ, the deep ball. Third and one, I think, Justin coming out of the half. What are you seeing there? uh zero coverage one-on-one and I have the greatest receiver in the world. So, I don’t care who it is out there, I’m going to give him a chance and you know, I didn’t see him fall. Um it’s just one of those things where, you know, he catches it and it’s great. He doesn’t, it’s incomplete or it’s an interception and it’s a punt. You know, there’s different things where, you know, that could lead to that outcome. But 10 times out of 10, I’m going to give him a shot. What have you gotten from Aaron Jones? like just the spark that he seems to be giving you guys and and a luxury for you as a young quarterback to have a a back making plays like you. Tremendous leader first off before he even steps on the field making plays. You know, he’s just got that exuberant energy. Um just so purehearted and you know, you know exactly what he’s feeling. You you know exactly what he’s asking out of you. And you know, just the spark he gives to our offense in the run game as well as Jordan Mason. Uh it’s just tremendous. and you know the way he hits that hole straight downhill you know as fast as he can at 100 miles an hour it’s it’s awesome to see and you know in the past game he’s tremendous as well but you know just got to just got to keep rolling and he’ll be the first one to say you know we just got to keep rolling so you know I appreciate you guys but we uh yeah we can’t have these anymore we got to be better and I promise we’re going to work to do that JJ Aaron Jones said that there were a couple times where he heard the Ravens trying to call snap. Did that haven’t affected you guys at all or is that anything you heard? You know, that’s something I don’t really try to dip my toe into. You know, at the end of the day, it’s uh movement when the ball’s snapped. And, you know, we just got to be more locked in, more focused on those little things and, you know, not shoot ourselves in the foot and we’ll see where we get. Thank you guys. again.

Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy spoke with reporters after Sunday’s 27-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens at U.S. Bank Stadium. McCarthy had two interceptions, and took the blame for the offensive penalties, including eight false starts.