J.J. McCarthy on Comfort in Vikings Offense, Learning from Mistakes, Justin Jefferson’s Leadership

J.J. McCarthy on Comfort in Vikings Offense, Learning from Mistakes, Justin Jefferson’s Leadership

Hello everyone. Uh good to see you all as always. Headed into our second padded practice today and you know we’ve gotten a lot of great work in so far. A lot of things that you know we can improve on and constantly get better at every single day and a lot of things that have gone really well. So we’re in a great spot right now and I’ll open it up to any questions. Day your first Patty practice the defense really threw the kitchen sink at you. What did you learn from that going into today? What I learned from that is, you know, in those situations, they’re so impeccable to get early on, especially in this camp-ike setting because, you know, it’s a, you know, there’s no consequences to it. There’s so much learning involved. And, you know, with those, you know, front seven guys and, you know, that rush, it’s, you know, tremendous to feel that early on and be able to, you know, make quicker decisions, get to my back, maybe find an escape lane here or there when they’re playing man on the back end. But yeah, it was just another great example for me to see and, you know, experience. JJ, how does the defensive line look to you? Um, I mean, they look really good and they feel even better. I mean, just like the rush and just being able to, you know, not sit in the pocket and really hold the ball. Like, you got to make quick decisive decisions and really have a plan and a process going up to the each and every play. And, you know, once that ball hits your fingertips, you know, they’re going to be firing off. JJ, when it comes to having Jefferson out, I guess how is that helping you get some chemistry with the other receivers and work in some other guys? You know, we miss him big time, but you know, this game of football, a lot of things could happen and you’re not going to have every single guy for every single game. So, it’s a great little experiment for us to see who’s going to step up and really, you know, show themselves throughout this training camp. But, you know, all the receivers have been doing a great job. you know, a lot of the young guys rising to the occasion and it’s been a lot of fun to get those extra reps in with a lot of those guys. What’s your bar for a successful day of training camp? Honestly, constant improvement. You know, learning every single day and you know, when the periods don’t go your way, you’re always asking why. It’s never a loss and you’re always learning from it, good or bad. But especially those, you know, periods where they really get you, I feel like that’s where we can learn the most about ourselves and our offense as an identity. And along those lines, the red zone yesterday, like what was your take about how that went? You know, miss missing by inches. And you know, that’s what happens when you’re down in the red zone. You got to be detail oriented and really specific with where you’re putting the ball. But, you know, there was a lot of good things on tape. And, you know, at the end of the day, those concepts are going to be crucial when we get down there of just the rhythm and timing of everything. So, just more great reps to put under my belt and the rest of the guys. six practices in. How would you sum up your progress so far? JJ, I would sum it up to, you know, just more and more comfortable in this system. You know, just attacking the process of the pre- snap, the cadences, knowing where everyone’s at. And, you know, something I really wanted to work on was just those layered balls and being able to find my touch again. And I feel like I’ve made some significant strides with that part of my game. And, you know, at the end of the day, I feel like we’re getting, you know, 2% better every single day and that’s all that matters. Just in general, how are you feeling after Monday’s practice? I’m feeling really good. Yeah. Um, you know, it’s considered the dog days of camp, but I feel like, you know, the guys are fired up and amped up for today. And KO and the trainers, they take great care of us. The training staff, they do a great job of just making our bodies feel absolutely amazing going into each and every day. And I feel like we’re on a great track. Did you, with all the situational work you do, where where’s the greatest benefit to you from that? And and does this is it more work time spent on that than you might have imagined goes on in the NFL or is is that sort of sticking with the way you did at college? I would say it’s what I expected because you know the NFL it’s a tremendous league. There’s going to be games going down to the wire almost every week and that’s where those wins and losses are going to be made is in those situations. And you know, a great drill we had the other day, a three-way drill of, you know, just third depending on where we’re on the field, but third down, is it a go forward situation, is it a punt, is it a field goal? And KO brought up in the team meeting room a lot of situations from last year that really made the difference in the outcomes of those games. So, I feel like just being able to really take those situations extremely seriously and be uncomfortable in those situations, it’s going to make us even more comfortable when they really come. JJ, with Jefferson’s injury, where do you feel like your chemistry was at with him before he went down and then how do you work on that when he’s hurt? I feel like we were in a really great spot, you know, spent a lot of time in the offseason just uh getting on the same page. You know, he’s a different receiver. He moves in different ways and just being able to really get reps and reps and reps with him is huge. And unfortunately, you know, he’s down with a little bit of soreness, but at the end of the day, you know, we’re going to pick up right where we left off. We’re still communicating off the field and you know he’s still communicating with me on the field on how he would run certain routes and where the ball placement would be. So I think it’s in a really good spot when he’s verbal like that with you guys from the sidelines. I love it. You know, he’s one of the leaders on our team. Does a tremendous job of just always being interactive and in it. You know, a lot of those guys, they can sometimes hide away in the training room and kind of do their own thing, but you really feel his presence out there. and just being able to, you know, pick his brain next to him in the locker room and out on the field. It’s it’s uh it’s really awesome. The real time coaching you’re getting from KO out there, what are those moments like after a rep that or bad when he’ll pull you off to the side and kind of talk to you in real time? It’s amazing cuz it eliminates any gray area. I don’t have any time to really think about and process, you know, why the outcome was why the outcome went the way it did. But just being able to get that, you know, like you said, live time feedback and being able to really, you know, understand it. Okay, that’s the why behind it. Then move on to the next play. It’s extremely extremely huge for sure. AJ, can you can you talk a little bit about how much more you have to manage in the huddle and line of scrimmage than when you were in college when you’re at Michigan? Um, it’s definitely a step up. You know, we did a lot at Michigan with just, you know, the play calls and being able to check things at the line, but this takes it to a whole another level with KO’s offense. And, you know, he says the hardest part about playing the quarterback position is in this offense is pre- snap. You know, the after post snap, the rest takes care of itself. But just being able to identify coverage, you know, remember the motions, make the protection calls, and, you know, react once the ball hits your hands. you know, he does a great job of just, you know, talking through that process pre- snap and just going out there and making it as effortless effortless as possible. JJ, how do you go about that part of learning the protections, whether it’s meeting with Ryan Kelly, meeting with coaches, what’s your process for learning how to set protections and command it? We do a lot of meeting time. We go over it a lot in the quarterback room and just always being vocal with Ryan Kelly and the rest of the guys and you know just lunch period in the locker room and we do a lot of protection walkthrough stuff. So they really make it super organic to really be on the same page. Couple what prompted you to make the layering throws thing one of your big goals for the summer? What prompted that? I feel like just not having those reps last year, like on the scout team and just throwing, that’s something that you miss out on. You know, when you take a substantial amount of time off from throwing the football, you got to find that touch again. And, you know, there was a lot of throws in OTAAS where I feel like could have gone a lot better as an outcome if I had that touch. So, just learning from, you know, failures and trying to get better from that. And speaking of that, it looks like as training camp practices have uh gone on that you are trying to make different throws like the first couple days, you know, there were times where you threw it hard and threw guys and it didn’t work. Are you just trying different things now too that aren’t necessarily applicable to games to see if they will work? Yes, there’s a fine line between that, especially in this camp period where it’s very competitive. But yeah, this is practice at the end of the day. We’re always trying new things to, you know, see how far we could expand, you know, that repertoire of throws, but at the end of the day, it’s about, you know, getting the ball to my receivers and getting it over defenders and definitely not through them. So, yeah. What have you seen from Max Brosmer? And have you been able to connect with him some? Yeah, Max is the man, you know, just super detail oriented, works his butt off. Um, I can’t say enough good things about that guy. He’s just an awesome human being and, you know, he he can sing pretty well, too. He’s got a song out there, Old Jack Daniels. You can check it out. But yeah, he’s an awesome dude. Dwight McGloin. Just how would you describe him as a dude on the field, off the field? Uh Dwight McGloin, also known as Nudy. Um he’s one of my favorite guys on the team. Just somebody that’s consistently vibrant, always connecting with every single player, every single coach, and he’s one of a kind personality, and you see it on the field. He makes plays in unique ways and it’s really special to have him on our team and I really appreciate him being in my class because we got a special bond that way too. Thanks everybody. Thank you so much.

Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy addressed the media from TCO Performance Center during 2025 Training Camp.

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