Kevin O’Connell on Preparing for Packers, J.J. McCarthy’s Mechanics, Updates on Ryan Kelly’s Injury

Kevin O’Connell on Preparing for Packers, J.J. McCarthy’s Mechanics, Updates on Ryan Kelly’s Injury

Good afternoon, guys. Um, big opportunity for our team. Um, really good energy in the building today. We’ll hit the practice field and be outside all three days this week. Kind of getting uh ready for the surface, ready for the weather, the uh, you know, the elements, things like that. NFC North going to Lambo. Um, always a very very important game for the Minnesota Vikings and it has absolutely won this week and uh I know our guys are excited to get to work on the field this week and uh we’ll we’ll be ready to roll when we uh we head to Lambo. Really just one update. You know, Jonathan Gard will work um off to the, you know, off to the side today and we’ll we’ll update you guys on kind of where he’s at moving into tomorrow and Friday and then Ryan Kelly should be a full participant. Okay. Just on um Michael Parsons, how have you seen them use him from just the different positions and different uh types of ways that they put him up front? Yeah, he’s lining up everywhere. Um on first and second down, he’ll be, you know, he’ll be on both sides. He’ll move around sometimes within a drive, so you really can’t have like an exact beat on where he’s going to be. And really the important part of that is, you know, whatever side he lines up on, Rajan Garry lines up on the other side. Um and they’ve got Vaness potentially coming back as well, who’s a who’s a talented young player. So, um, it’s it’s a it’s obviously a focal point and something we’ve got to be aware of to have those kind of impact players on the edges, but then on third down, he could be rushing inside, he could be lined up, you know, off the ball. Um, you got to be ready and prepare schematically is one thing, but then, you know, all five of those guys up front understanding that it may be, you know, maybe my, you know, tough down to fight through depending on, you know, where they want to dictate, you know, from a standpoint of their alignment. So, it’s definitely something we’re talking about and trying to prepare our guys for. What have you thought about Jordan Long’s development over the years? Yeah, I think uh you know the things that jump out are just uh he’s a a very very good thrower of the football and it’s something that he came out of Utah State like that. It was uh just a question of you know how accurate could he be snap in and snap out and and and what would the rhythm of a game look like? uh were really what what I always thought, you know, when he was coming out, but I I really liked him studying his tape and the high he can make some high high level difficulty throws. Um and then what I think he’s really found is is is a really good fit in Matt’s offense of uh they’re explosive. They they they’ve got a very deep receiving core. tight ends. I know they have an injury at the position right now to Tucker, but um you know, he they’ve really made uh a really, you know, pretty interesting transition to the marriage of running the pass and some of the things that they’ve done. Matt’s done it at a high level for a long time, but a little bit different than kind of the traditional way of doing it all the time where they’re they’re incorporating maybe some more gun runs. They’re incorporating some RPOS’s, some things that um Jordan’s obviously very comfortable doing, but when push comes a shove, he’s he’s making if you let him sit back there clean in the pocket all day, he’s he’s going to make every throw uh available. So, it’s it’s it’s one of those things where you’re trying to uh much like a lot of the quarterbacks in our division. You’re you’re trying to see, you know, how many times you can move him off the spot, eliminate some of the easy departures from the pocket where he can be a real problem with his his athleticism and ability to throw on the run. And I think they really understand, you know, either some players that, you know, previously played with Aaron who is maybe as good of anybody in the scramble drill setting, but those principles have been in place for a long time in that offense. And Jordan was obviously there developing uh watching it very closely for for some of his early years. Um, and they picked up right where uh, you know, he that Aaron kind of left off. And then the other element is just the ways they steal plays, whether it’s um rushing the ball from a second to third down when you’re trying to sub and they get a free play, uh quick counts, um different different things that they they kind of have tools that that give them an advantage. Even if it’s just on one snap, it could be an an explosive. We’ve seen that this year throughout the tape of them finding those explosives where there’s also a penalty on the field for 12 guys on the field. So, we got to be totally uh you know, totally locked in from a substitution when we can, you know, are they going to go to the ball? How how great can we be getting aligned quickly, communicating, and then uh you know, playing out the snap from there. Kevin, with JJ’s mechanics specifically, um sometimes we’ve seen kind of the back leg come around and whip up a little bit. Is that something that you’ve seen quarterbacks be successful with or is that something you ideally don’t want to see? Yeah, I think to a certain extent, uh I think the violent Um the violent leg whip, you know, can sometimes be, you know, depending on where guys generate their natural power from. Um you can see some of that just as the, you know, the ultimate kind of disassociation between the lower and upper half that creates the torque that some guys put a lot of revolutions on the ball. And that would definitely be, you know, the category I would put JJ in. Now, I I also believe very strongly that um he doesn’t necessarily always need that and and those, you know, those 80 85% uh throws that have plenty of velocity on them, but also are uh you know, the the location seems to be better. Um the the friendliness of of throwing more runners balls for guys for the ability to have some run after catch. Um, and then just the progress in rhythm from a little bit more comfortable base, um, while not taking up too much space in the pocket is, uh, also, you know, part of it. But, uh, I think it’s something that some throwers, you know, historically have, you’ve seen it, you’ve seen them do it. Um, but to me, it’s the times where, uh, it’s it’s it can be credited to due to a lack of foundation and balance more so than the than the torque that he’s generating. And I I think it’s I think there’s a a middle ground there that we’re working towards and we’ve seen um from a kind of a smooth rhythm standpoint that I think is what we’re hunting a little bit more on a snap to snap basis. Kevin, when you talk about him in terms of pocket presence, climbing the pocket and keeping space, dealing with messy pockets. How do you work on that in practice when you know guys in a no contact jersey? How how easy is it to simulate those things and put him in settings where he can get something realistic? Yeah, all of our team periods, you know, the rush is the rush is full full go. We’re blocking games. We’re handling pressures and um guys know they have to stay off the quarterback, but we want it to feel as real as you possibly can. You know, the getting hit in those messy pot pockets are kind of the byproduct of the games, but the feel of what it feels like. And every, you know, every game in the NFL just is going to be like the messy pocket. and the guys that have really excelled. You know, I was, you know, just I was talking with Tom Brady about this last week when we got a chance to catch up before the game. Um, it’s, you know, a messy pocket doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a broken pocket. and uh your ability to kind of in place, you know, in the comfort or finding that um you know, safe space within the pocket to exhaust that one to one and a half more seconds while a pattern or a play expresses itself is is kind of what made him the greatest of all time doing it. He wasn’t, you know, how many more times are we going to show his 40-yard dash from the combine. what we need to show is the pocket movement um within a within a progression and he’s working one to two to three to four and an and ability to throw the ball anywhere at any time based upon his lower half kind of being his guiding force. Um, so I I I think it’s much more uh JJ’s shown the athleticism to impact games out of the pocket with his legs. U but it’s much more that controlled um you know harnessed athleticism to be able to keep that athletic base progressing through a down without needing to move too far uh up into trouble which can sometimes be the back of a lineman trying to you know post single block a three technique or uh the way a pressure might you know end up you know articulating. It’s it’s one of those things where now it’s a linebacker getting picked up by Jordan Mason or Aaron Jones or CJ Ham and you’re protected, but it’s it could be considered messy, but those are winning downs uh by his teammates that we’ve got to equal that with a winning down out of the quarterback. The lack of takeaways. I mean, I know you can’t just chalk it up to bad luck, but the last four or five games there have been balls on the ground. There have been balls tipped up in the air that just seem to keep going back to the offense. Do you look at it? Do you say it’s got to come around or I mean I know forcing turnovers is a skill. Are there things you’re asking guys to do more of to try to prompt it? I think it’s just, you know, I think our tackling has been really good uh the last few games. I think our knock back and the principles of stopping the run, getting people into longer longer yardage situations and then getting uh getting the down and distance on your side. And then it’s about tying in the disguise with the with the the push of the pocket and trying to disrupt the quarterback um and see if you can create some of those opportunities that maybe um weren’t there at times throughout the year. So, we’re trying to do a little bit more of that. Um we’re coaching every single day and our guys are some of the best in the league at punching at the football, hammering, raking. Um you know, it’s just been a matter of when we have gotten it out. You know, there was a there was a couple snaps last week where the ball’s loose and um funny bounce of the ball. Um Wes Phillips knows the shape of a of a football. He always says it to me. Um but I forget what he says. Got to ask the doctor. But um but it is a funny shaped ball and it will bounce differently. Uh you just got to keep creating those ops. I showed uh the team examples of us doing that this today, not very long ago, of uh just close-up views of just surgical punches, you know, purple hats to the ball in population. So when it does come out, maybe in the kicking game, um you can punch one of those things out and uh change the game. Ryan Kelly, did you go into this planning to exhaust the full 21 days or you prepared that if things go well this week come? I think the plan more more so than the 21 days, Kevin, was the time um from when we put him on IR to when we activated that window opening up of just making sure that we had exhausted uh the required time to where Ryan was, you know, essentially banging down the door to to get back on the field. And then we wanted to let him go through a full practice week or at least build up to uh the type of work that would allow him to feel really good coming into this week to to hopefully then have another good week and and then we can make a determination later this week. But um he’s in a great spot. Um he’s going to be uh he’s going to be fully participating and um as the week goes on I’ll I’ll I’ll let you guys know what his availability for Sunday looks like. But excited to have him back on the field with our guys for sure. The hard line is not to walk with a guy who has had multiple concussions. Well, I think what you do is you defer first and foremost to not only the medical professionals uh that work with our team, but we’ve sought outside resources as well. Uh much like we do in in a lot of these circumstances and you’re just looking for green light after green light after green light. Um and I think Sunday will have been eight weeks uh since uh the Pittsburgh game. Um, so I feel like there’s there’s been uh the proper amount of time. Um, we’ve taken a look at every layer of equipment. Um, probably going to see him wearing a guardian cap. You know, he I believe he’s got a different helmet. Uh, you’re trying to do all the things that you can do to make sure you eliminate any of the controllables. And then this game is uh what it is. And and Ryan Kelly loves playing football. He’s been really darn good at it for a long time. um and is itching to get back out there and and once the medical side, uh you’ve exhausted the equipment side and and you’re really kind of looking at then anything fundamentals and technique-wise to to help him uh we’ve we’ve kind of talked about as well. Uh but like I said, he’s been playing for a really long time at a at a really high level. So, um it’s kind of one of those things that it’s a uh it’s a process that involves a lot of things and I just want to make sure from my chair we’re exhausting every avenue to make sure that we’ve controlled what we can uh from a timing and and all the different things I just listed. Uh, and then if all systems are go and and and we’re green lit to go, let’s let’s attack this thing um together with with with with no kind of um no kind of worry and and let the let him go play football, which is what he wants to do. We just have to continue to finish off this process the way it started and has maintained throughout. Buster Kevin with um Donovan Jackson. When you guys drafted him, you talked about his personality, his intelligence. How have you seen that sort of manifest itself in his growth here? Yeah, I think um you know, you look at how he dealt with uh the wrist injury and then able to come back, you know, beat the timeline on that. Uh maybe not as full of a participant, you know, as you as as you would want a young player to be and he’s able to go out and get the reps in games and show immediate improvement on things. Um he’s a an ascending young player. I thought he had one of his better games last week and and he’s played really consistent for us all year long and and the best part about him is if something gets him or he gets beat on something or he’s got to be a little, you know, you know, altering to his technique in the run game or the pass game, he does it and doesn’t need Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. He’ll do it in game. Um he’s great communicator. Um he’s played next to a few guys now throughout the year um on that offensive line and has really been a both him and Will have been um really really you know uh kind of guys that if they weren’t as consistent as they were you know I don’t I don’t know necessarily if we’d be where we are now or even you know able to get through some of the adversity we have. Bye.

Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media ahead of the Week 12 matchup against the Green Bay Packers in the 2025 NFL regular season.

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