Kevin O’Connell on Team’s Injury Updates, J.J. McCarthy, Quarterback Position for Eagles Game

Kevin O’Connell on Team’s Injury Updates, J.J. McCarthy, Quarterback Position for Eagles Game

Good afternoon. Uh hopefully everybody had a a good rest and and recharge, especially uh those who braved the trip with us. Um it was good to be back home and uh had a a good uh good week of work here. Gave the players some muchdeserved time off. Um, but coaching staff-wise, we were able to, you know, kind of use a lot of the five weeks of inventory that we had to uh assess where we’re at as a team. And as we try to, you know, come out of this by um getting uh getting some players back, getting healthy at some spots, and we will continue to do so over these next few weeks. We’re excited about the opportunity we have as a team. Um, and still a lot of room uh to continue to improve. And I think that’s going to be a huge thing for for this year’s team. And it’s really every year’s team is is uh improving throughout um you know these these next few weeks to try to become the best version of of what we can be um towards you know towards the tail end of the season and um but at the same time understanding that the schedule is going to be a challenge and we’ve got some really good teams that we’ve got to get ready to play. Um and it starts with this with this week you know welcoming the the Eagles to town defending champs. um very very talented football team and it’s it’s going to be uh one where we’re very excited to be back at US Bank Stadium. It does feel like it’s been a little bit of time since we’ve had an opportunity to play in front of our fans which we’re very much excited about. Um and also excited to open up Blake Cashman’s window will open up today. Um we’ll go out for um some onfield work today to kind of get the week kicked off and you will also have uh Donovan Jackson, Michael Jurgens, Brian O’Neal, and JJ McCarthy uh taking part uh in the work today as well as throughout the week um in different uh different capacities. But uh we’ll be uh great to get Cash back on the practice field opening that window up and he’s done done a heck of a job getting himself ready to go and give him uh the week of preparation and see where he’s at uh towards the tail end of the week. But uh very much looking forward to uh getting after it with the guys today. Had a um a good week, but it’s it’s time to go to work. Kevin, just as you were analyzing the first five weeks, how challenging was it to have takeaways when you’ve been playing without so many key players? And I guess how did you sort of work your way through that? Yeah, I think like what I what I tried to do and especially sitting with Flo um and and you know spending quite a bit of time talking through just our team uh in general, but when you look at when you look at uh you know where the injuries have happened in some cases in game um and some of the you’re trying to make as many adjustments as you can to try to win that game that day. Uh does that fall in alignment with what you want your identity of your team to be? and you try to keep uh the things as close together as you can. But but you I I think the big thing looking at it from a 30,000 foot view is we’ve got to continue to do uh the simple things better. And what I mean by that is fundamentals of of each and every call. Uh, I think the calls, whether it’s a defensive call, a play call on offense, or even Matt Daniels in the kicking game, can we play uh with great technique and fundamentals and have all 11 guys doing their job, penalty-free football, that’s that’s looked like Minnesota Vikings football, even when we’ve had to deal with some of the adversity of injuries so far um through the first five games. And as we get healthy, that doesn’t mean you can just look the other way on a lot of those things. We’ve got to coach uh to that standard and then we’ve got to try to find a way to match the plans uh to be in alignment with what we want our our identity to be as a team. How we think we can win, what it’s going to take to win against really good football teams. It seems like week in and week out. Um every team you’re going to play is is going to be talented. They’re going to be well coached. Uh you’ve got to do those little things right. And a lot of them fall in alignment with our foundational principles of of how we’ve won a lot of games around here, whether it’s the turnover battle, whether it’s being a fundamentally sound team, tackling, um some of the things that that uh allow you to get opportunities on defense to force turnovers by creating more negative plays and disruption that causes the negative plays and then you get teams into these these longer down and distances. And we’ve seen it the other way with our offense. you know, early down penalties or negatives. Uh, got to be elite with our ball security the rest of the way um to truly play these games the way we want to play them. And then when the ball gets kicked off, we’ve got to then do whatever it takes to try to win as the inevitable kind of es and flows of a game happen, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’ve got to prepare. And it’s my job to prepare the team in a way to go out and win games the way we we know we can play. Um, and we’ve got to just make sure that that standard is being met starts with me all the way down through our roster. What did you see from JJ last week during his time with the buy and then where do you think you’re at as this practice league starts? Yeah, we had some good work uh last week. It was uh it was great to get back on the grass and and had uh you know some good sessions out there. Kind of getting back to uh a lot of the principles of of lower body mechanics and and things that uh had had you know been really good parts of his early journey here. Um and and didn’t even hit me till we were out there. He had practiced one time since we had left Chicago. He had practiced one time uh officially. So, a lot of a lot of the things you’re, you know, allowing him to get his health back and get his feet back underneath him, but then building that foundation of fundamentals and techniques that really, you can talk about routes and certain throws and certain plays and things like that, but it’s the foundation of throwing mechanics from the ground up that um, you know, he’s really taken to since he since he got here. and just the consistency of it. Uh whether it was dealing through playing through that injury, you know, towards the second half of that Atlanta game or and and really you’re not talking about um an incredible amount of body of work when you’re considering that when that injury happened in the week that he had leading into that game. So, I’m very excited to get him back officially practicing. Um, I don’t necessarily uh want to p put a percentage on where I think he’s at health-wise. And I think we’ll, you know, this this week will be um massive for our whole team. But just to see JJ back out there getting reps and working through the process of building that foundation um back up and and we got off to a really good start last week. I was very fortunate to get that time with him. So, do you view him as a possibility for Sunday’s game or is it more of a longer term thing like you’re talking about with the fundamentals? Yeah, I think you know, uh, we’ve got to prepare to to try to win a game on Sunday and and Carson, you know, as as well working with, you know, his left shoulder. He’ll practice as well. Um, but we really want to get our team ready to go and in the process of doing that. JJ is, you know, has his his plan of attack that that we want to try to make sure we maximize every single day and prepare all of our guys to be ready to go and and make the best decision for our team and then also for uh for individually for each one of those guys as we get closer to it, but not ready to say yet exactly um where he’ll be at towards the end of the week. Want to see how this week plays out first. Kevin, you’ve talked about footwork with JJ a few times. What specifically do you want to see him kind of refine here or sharpen up as he gets back at it? Yeah, I think you you quarterback play is about, you know, the the foundation of getting to that premier base and body position at the top of your drop, whatever that drop is. That could be quick game, that could be a five, sevenst step drop, that can be, you know, a play action pass where you turn your back to the defense. whatever it is, you’re still getting to that optimal position at the top of your drop. So then you can read uh you know with your feet and eyes tied together and play in rhythm and and the time clock can naturally be something that if you’re just listening to uh you know what you’re you’re listening to your feet and seeing what your eyes see as far as our guys open or not and then progressing because I think one of the things he’s he’s you know took away from these two or three weeks of watching Carson play was just the power of completions uh that maybe don’t necessarily always go to the first or second progression. It might be TJ, you know, helping out on a protection and it’s it’s a critical 12 yard gain when all we did was really check the ball down. Um or it’s, you know, being surgical with your accuracy when number one is open. And you do that by getting to that foundation and then playing with great balance and rhythm from that point. And it’s it’s something that seems like, hey, you know, that that seems like just quarterback play 101, but I watched a lot of football yesterday and didn’t see it um as much as you would think you should see it. Um and that’s just the nature of playing a really difficult position with a lot of variables um in front of you down the field um different coverages and techniques and leverages and we’re trying to give the best plays we possibly can. But within those plays, you have five eligibles for a reason. and and finding that open eligible and putting the ball in play and the power of uh preserving not only yourself but the integrity of staying efficient as an offense is uh ends up being the quarterback’s job a lot of the time when it’s not always fair based upon how things are around them or the adversity around them from a uh you know standpoint of some of the injuries that have hit us and and that’s just part of why the position is so difficult. Um but the beauty of the the work last week was you know this is purely just about let’s just work on um the technique and fundamentals and break it down to a place where we can really take tangible wow that felt different that felt great or that’s how you know that’s why we coach it like that and you know pretty soon he’s he’s throwing the ball great and he’s got a smile on his face and you’re stacking reps upon reps that that will matter as now he gets to transition to actual real reps on the practice field. Um and and having the extra day here to get a little head start will be great and then we’ll work through it from there. Kevin, where is Carson with his shoulder just coming out of last week? Yeah, he was he was sore coming out of the game. Um he’s he’s he’s gotten to a good place where he can um you know participate as well and take part in the preparation. And um the biggest thing for him is it’s a non-throwing shoulder. Uh so it’s it’s a matter of working through that soreness as it as it comes to him. And you know, then it’s going to be about uh for Carson, you know, the same types of things that we talk about with JJ, albeit different because they’re totally two two different body types, different types of throwers from a standpoint of their lower body mechanics, but at the same time, the principles remain the same. and and I think Carson’s done a really good job of uh without a bunch of time on task in the offense understanding, you know, that completion mindset. And I think even some of the times where he’s maybe tried to hold on to the ball or create a play, you know, that’s led to maybe taking some more hits than he needs to. Um so I think it’s you’re playing against a really good front this week. you know, one of the best interiors um probably in the whole NFL and the the integrity of the interior of the pocket’s going to be critical, but at the same time, playing in rhythm and finding that completion in in the quickest, most efficient way possible will hold true for both those guys. Kevin, would you ever be comfortable taking a decision on a quarterback status like up to game time or is because of that position, do you kind of need to know by end of the week just for continuity sake? Yeah, I think yeah, I think there’s um I think there’s uh the decision that is the public one and I think there’s the decision one with what we’re going to do for the game. Um and and those two things can be on different timelines, although I know that’s not the most comforting thing to to share with you guys, but um there is a there is a feel of uh you know, making sure that we’re preparing the quarterback position for the game. um knowing that we’ve we’ve won games with two different guys this year and um we’ve we’ve found a a rhythm at times on offense that as much as that quarterback plays a huge role in it, um we’ve got to make sure our offense is prepared to play with that true all 111 mindset because when we’ve moved the ball pretty consistently without some of those um you know early down inefficiencies that have caused us either to be in third and longs and and not be able to stay on the field or you know the early down put the ball on the ground turnover with you know you look back at the last game we had two fumbles both of which I believe took place on first and 10 um in a pretty optimal position on the field one when we had been driving the first drive of the game and and then later on when the defense was able to get a stop backed up we get a good punt return by Miles Price and then we put the ball on the ground there and every single one of those has their own stories for sure our ball carriers They’ve heard it from me already today. They’ll hear it every single day um from here on out. But ball security has to be a premium uh for the way we’re going to win games. And we were able to overcome losing the turnover battle. We lost the field position battle. We lost a lot of the metrics that say you should when you lose those things, you should lose those games. But we won the football game because we did what was required to win that game. Uh but that does not mean that uh there’s still not a lot of things we need to improve on to be a little bit more consistent as a team. Um and the quarterback position is is obviously a part of that, Dave, but at the same time, we’ve got to prepare that position just like the rest of our team where it’s principles of playing good football that I think can be our separator and and and then we allow the health and kind of the readiness factor to to help make drive that decision later on in the week. How is Ben Genko doing? Yeah, he’s doing better. He’s he’s uh he’s going to be working on a side field, you know, early on this week and then uh what I see is, you know, you know, his workload hopefully picking up as we go. I don’t really have an update on his availability for Sunday yet. Want to see kind of how he how he does with some of that sidefield work. And uh he’ll be a a critical guy to get back in there when we can just from a you know, the nucleus of our core defensive group. He does so many things that uh you know help make a lot of the calls go as versatility allowing other guys to be kind of back in their back in kind of their sweet spot for their role within the defense. And then I think a guy like Blake Cashman coming back is critical as well because you know he he assumes that green dot position and u we have just seen since we got Blake when he’s out there and and we’re playing the type of defense that we’ve been accustomed to seeing Blake’s got a lot to do with it. So very very excited to get him back and and uh Gink’s going to be on, you know, a timeline here that I don’t necessarily have at this time, but I I do feel positive about where he’s at today and and moving forward. Kevin, you spoke earlier about the identity. You guys kind of had to be in survival mode injury-wise, also traveling. What is the identity you think of the team now? What do you want it to be or is it the same right now? I think the the characteristics of our team need to be consistent regardless of who’s on the field. That’s been one of the things that uh I I I haven’t liked about, you know, some of the the turnovers or, you know, we’ve got to force some more. You know, we’ve we forced a good chunk of our turnovers in one game. And that was a a great performance by our team that day. Uh, and I think the score was indicative of a lot of things looking like they were in alignment with how we want to play. Um, I think the defensive opportunities for turnovers will come. Uh, and they’ll come with us being uh, efficient on offense and maintaining possessions and scoring some points and trying to let those guys play uh, with a lead at times and and making people a little bit moreed one-dimensional than than being in these kind of back and forth kind of games, which is the NFL. Such is life in in the NFL. But I think uh as we get guys back, hopefully you’re seeing that standard and that line elevate uh with the with the initial intentions of our roster coming to life. And that’ll be this week with Blake and some of those other guys coming back, Aaron coming back at, you know, at some point in the near future and and and then just continuing to, you know, build on the original intent of how the team was put together. But at the same time, you know, manufacturing clear path to winning each week is it’s a week-toeek thing in the NFL. matchups and opponents and all those things, what they do well, what you have to make sure that you you do your best to try to mitigate from a standpoint of their uh their strengths to try to win. Um, you know, at the risk of a word salad, that’s the best I could give you. Um, but I’m sure that still can be interpreted as a salad. So, I’ll stop there. Kevin, what stood out as you watched a lot of football yesterday and how do you analyze the landscape of the NFC? Yeah, I think uh you know there’s so many games where I’m sure fans watching them like I was watching yesterday uh it is very very the the it’s razor thin the difference between a game looking certain ways and and not and being a down to the wire back and forth thing and um just the es and flows of games and and with the way you know it seems like the the one thing that always hits me is just you watch college games on Saturday and then you watch pro games on Sunday. Uh the games fly by um sequences of games. Teams can hold the ball for nine, eight, nine, ten minutes on a drive and and just totally um capture just the momentum of having the ball uh in in many ways in the NFL. And then you start looking at your, yeah, you could be averaging over six yards a play and you can be efficient and all these things and then you look up and it’s the middle of the third quarter and you’ve run 30 plus plays as opposed to trying to get to that 60 plus number. And there’s a lot of ways to get to th that that number, but nine times out of 10 it comes back to are you not doing the things that that that stunt your ability to have a drive. penalties, turnovers, short fields, the special teams one play phase, being able to flip the field like Ryan Wright did against the Browns last week and put them backed up, which should inevitably turn hopefully into good field position for the next sequence of uh possessions. But I to answer your question, it’s it just seems like every play matters. It seems like whether if you’re going to try to say, “Hey, this is a weighty down.” I don’t even know how you say that anymore cuz they all feel weighty throughout a game. that second and seven explosive that you get in the play pass game or that third and three conversion where you get three and a half, they all seem to be massively important. And if you’re going to try to pinpoint going into the game, oh, these this play right here is going to be the one, then you’re probably going to be uh looking back on the game at at many many other plays in the game. So, I think it’s the consistency factor, playing good football with good principles of tackling, guys communicating, guys all, you know, playing the call with great technique and fundamentals, and then trying to manufacture momentum by stacking plays throughout your team that in the NFL game isn’t just one phase. It’s all three phases, having to put those things together to play against good teams and win. Thanks, everyone. See your breakfast.

Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Kevin O’Connell addressed the media from TCO Performance Center ahead of the team’s Week 7 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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