Kyler Murray may have made controversial comments on Tuesday afternoon, but they didn\u2019t phase Kevin O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMar 30, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell during the 2026 NFL Annual League Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore.
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The quarterback competition for the Minnesota Vikings has been in full force, and we got to hear from both Kyler Murray<\/a> and J.J. McCarthy<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n We heard a lot of things about the competition, but this quote from Murray stood out<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the toughest part is having to split reps. It\u2019s me already being behind, not getting the amount of reps that you know you would typically want to, gotta get learning an offense. That\u2019s probably the toughest part. Again, going back to the past, being in control of everything, understanding what we were already doing, because I was comfortable within the system. Now, [I] come to new system, learning on the fly, trying to play fast, efficient, and then let it loose while learning. That\u2019s the toughest part.\u201d<\/p>\n Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray<\/p>\n Kyler Murray vs. J.J. McCarthy Competition<\/p>\n The Vikings made it clear it was a genuine quarterback competition between the two after they signed Murray in March.<\/p>\n During practices available to the media, members of the beat has consistently mentioned the aspect of Murray being much more talented.<\/p>\n Throughout the summer, both quarterbacks have been given relatively equal reps.<\/p>\n Those comments were significant in many ways. Some took Murray as complaining about having to compete, but the reality wasn\u2019t quite that simple. He was stating the obvious about the situation. Head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell didn\u2019t read much into it.<\/p>\n \u201cI know what he was intending, it was very similar to conversations we\u2019ve had privately, and even as a group, with me in the quarterback room a little bit more, I would say this time of year, based by the rules and also how we handle it, it is a foundation to build off of. Every rep obviously matters, but this time of year, the beauty of not going full speed on a lot of reps is you can get a lot out of watching other guys\u2019 reps as well, so I think that\u2019s taken place. I think there\u2019s been great learning that\u2019s taking place.\u201d<\/p>\n Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell<\/p>\n O\u2019Connell also talked about the context of what the offseason program can give you. Doing things not at full speed helps out with the learning process. Even though it helps, it doesn\u2019t replace running the play himself. It also won\u2019t matter a lot who gets what reps on a given day. <\/p>\n \u201cWith the different volumes of days, like some days will be those classic two hour, two and a half hour. There\u2019ll be massive amounts of work where maybe it could be split, but I wouldn\u2019t read much into who gets what on which days.\u201d<\/p>\n Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell<\/p>\n There will be a lot of discussion about the competition over the next few weeks, but the biggest aspect is that O\u2019Connell won\u2019t overreact to anything like this.<\/p>\n \t\t\t Minnesota Vikings News<\/p>\n![\"Arizona](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2025-11-17T013512Z_2055354394_MT1USATODAY27609041_RTRMADP_3_ARIZONA-CARDINALS-QUARTERBACK-KYLER-MURR.jpeg\")
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