J.J. McCarthy on Improving His Game & Mechanics, Handling Pressure, Leadership from Veterans & More

J.J. McCarthy on Improving His Game & Mechanics, Handling Pressure, Leadership from Veterans & More

Hello everyone. Um, obviously got a great divisional opponent coming up this week on the road trying to get back on track and I thought it was a great day of, you know, above the neck work and we’re going to continue to just strive and get that much better every single day. So, I’ll open up to any questions. When you go back and you watch the film, how close are you to piecing everything together and just saying like, man, if I would just do this, we would be much better than what we are. I feel like for me, I kind of make the analogy of just like, you know, a cork about to come off a bottle. Just understanding that it’s, you know, one to three little things that I need to change about my game that is going to make a huge difference in the outcome of every single drive in the game. So, yeah, I feel like it’s really close, but it all comes down to the consistency of the fundamentals and the little details. What are the one or two things you need to change? I would say, you know, just my posture. Um, the way that I’m processing the defense in terms of I know what I’m getting, but let the rhythm of the play play out. You know, don’t be getting to that answer too quick because, you know, it’s a timing and rhythm of the concepts and the defenses. Um, and just uh decision- making, just understanding, you know, the situation of the game, not just the concept that I’m trying to execute. understand, you know, like for instance, uh that first pick last game, you know, it’s four minutes going into half. We’re on our uh own side of the territory and just understand, you know, what that risk factor should be and uh go from there. So, I’d say those things. J, when it comes to things like posture, mechanics, how much of that stuff is new in terms of what they’re asking you to do versus the way you’ve been taught or coached before on it? It’s it’s very new. you know, coming in here, uh, I was taught how to play quarterback in a very different way. And that’s, you know, expected going into the league, going into any new team, any new system. But at the end of the day, you know, it was really just the injuries that I felt like, you know, kind of took away all those reps and the constant repetition to make those a habit and make them concrete like KO talks about. But, uh, yeah, I feel like, you know, it’s just the repetitions. you know, how many times could I go home and every time I take the dogs out, I’m getting, you know, 10 drops each time. Little things like that where you just keep building the reps. JJ, you said a couple times on Sunday postgame that NFL is really hard. Is there a situation where maybe you’re putting a little too much pressure on yourself to succeed? It’s a great question. I feel like the pressure level that one puts on themselves has to, you know, match the pressure that the team’s going under, especially at the quarterback position. And at the end of the day, you know, pressure is always going to be there, but it’s, you know, what are you doing on a day-to-day basis? Who are you internally? And what’s going to come out when the pressure is at its highest? So, I feel like there’s just, you know, so many moments in the five games that I’ve played so far where I felt that pressure show up and there’s little things that showed up in my game that I know I need to work on. So, when that situation happens again, it won’t be an issue. JJ, you talk about some of the stuff being new. Like, h how hard is it to untrain your mind from 15 years of learning one way and now having to learn a different way? It’s really hard. you know, you’re rewiring neurological pathways, and that’s not something that happens overnight. So, just understanding and giving myself that grace, that patience that, you know, I might not have it today, but it’s something I’m going to continue to strive after day after day, rep after rep, and get to the place where we all want me to be. And, uh, yeah, it just comes with all those reps because, you know, anything new like tying your shoe takes time. And you know, especially playing at the national at the level of the National Football League, you know, the urgency to it is something very important. But no matter what it is, it’s going to take time. KJ, you’ve talked a few times recently about just the importance of breathing, you know, like you know, staying kind of calm in in those tough moments like how much do you think that can be tied to mechanics? Some of these things like posture? I feel like it could be tied to mechanics in a way of just, you know, what is your physiology like going into that rep? You know, is it something where, you know, is your body telling you you need to press and having that awareness to be like, no, I don’t. I just need to do my job and, you know, take the little things as serious as possible and not let the, you know, external factors of emotion and all that get in the way. Um, but yeah, I would just say, you know, it’s just the reps after the reps for sure. What is the balance of like you’re thinking about some of the mechanics, posture stuff while also managing play call, playbook time? Like how do you mentally try to wrap your head around all of that in real time? I guess it’s a great question. Again, I feel like it’s extremely difficult, you know, understanding that these defenses are not simple. You know, there’s a lot of protection plan that takes up a lot of brain space. It’s obviously the new concepts going in week after week, the coverages and those little things about your fundamentals slip sometimes. So, I feel like the more preparation I can do throughout the week to make sure those things are to a tea gives me more brain space to work on, you know, the consistency of those little things. Um, but yeah, it just comes down to throughout the week, especially today and walk through. Like really hammer that home. Never take a rep for granted and uh yeah, just keep building from there. What are those conversations like with your skill guys right now? I know Adam Justin said, you know, if they have to do something extra or say something to you, they’ll do that. What’s it been like? You know, how are you guys getting over that hump together? They’ve been awesome. I can’t thank them enough for the patience level and the the leadership out of every person in that group, them pushing me every single day to be the best version of myself and doing it in ways that a lot of people don’t see. So, you know, I just love them with all my heart and so grateful for every single one of those boys. Have you and Justin like added anything into your weeks of doing work outside of practice or anything like that? Um, I would say, you know, it’s just more time hanging out. You know, getting to know each other off the field is always something that is of extreme importance, but you know, just the communication obviously. You know, we’ve been together for two years now and I feel like we have a really great relationship to be honest with each other and not let you know, emotions and egos get in the way. Let’s solve this problem. Let’s fix the solution instead of, you know, hurting ourselves trying to protect feelings. Last few with Justin specifically, how would you kind of characterize the way he’s kind of led through some of the ups and downs, helped you kind of through some of the ups and downs? I would characterize it as he possesses the most important quality that any great player, any great uh individual wants to achieve, which is consistency. You know, how he comes in the building every single day, he’s the same guy every single day. and just being able to, you know, see how he reacts and responds to some of these rough patches. It’s been uh extremely comforting to know that, you know, he’s going to continue to uplift me, continue to instill confidence, and, you know, do the best thing he can for this team, which is just being himself. All good. Thank you, guys.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy addressed the media ahead of the Week 12 matchup against the Green Bay Packers in the 2025 NFL regular season.

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