EAGAN, Minn. — NFL teams are like most businesses in that they have to manage short-term and long-term priorities. Wins are like dollars. You can only go so long before questions start being asked about the returns.
This is one of the things that makes developing young players so difficult. The pressure to perform each Sunday does not subside because a particular player is getting his feet wet.
That’s especially true at quarterback.
Kevin O’Connell, the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach, has not shied away from this reality. He knows what J.J. McCarthy is: young, inexperienced and in the preliminary stages of his career. O’Connell also knows the standard. The Vikings are not spending $346 million on their 2025 roster — the most of any NFL team — to go without a playoff win for the sixth straight season.
Marrying the present and future was always going to be a delicate dance, one that only seemed doable because of O’Connell’s deftness. The offense’s poor showing in the first two weeks highlighted the complexity of the balancing act. McCarthy’s high ankle sprain threw a wrench in the roadmap.
On Monday, O’Connell confirmed that McCarthy, 22, would be making the trip overseas to Dublin and London with the rest of the team. However, McCarthy’s return-to-play timeline is murky. O’Connell has already said McCarthy won’t play on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. CBS analyst Tracy Wolfson reported this weekend that the plan was for McCarthy to return following the Week 6 bye, but O’Connell said that was inaccurate.
“What is accurate is the idea that I believe J.J. would go out there and tough it out today or tomorrow if we asked him to,” O’Connell said Monday. “To me, at this point in a very young career, his mobility is one of his weapons that has clearly already shown to be something that’s a positive for him. So, we want to make sure he’s healthy.”
Head Coach Kevin O’Connell provides an update on J.J. McCarthy pic.twitter.com/lYz2FeOxDn
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 22, 2025
Later, responding to a question about his overall commitment to McCarthy once the ankle is fully healed, O’Connell said that McCarthy needs to practice for a full week.
“We saw, as phenomenal as he was getting prepared for the Atlanta game (after the birth of his son), he did miss practice that week,” O’Connell said. “And when you’re in the phase of building up the 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours it takes to play the position at a very high level, which we know J.J. McCarthy is going to do, you can’t cut corners on that.
“And (the initial question) also doesn’t require an answer today.”
The question is relevant in the aftermath of Carson Wentz’s successful debut Sunday. While not flawless, Wentz did what had not been done enough in seven of the team’s first eight quarters. He effectively operated the offense.
Wentz completed 70 percent of his passes and, most critically, did not commit a turnover. The most stark difference between his and McCarthy’s play may have been how quickly he got rid of the ball. The numbers back up the observation. Whereas McCarthy released his passes within 2.5 seconds only 17.1 percent of the time, Wentz did it on 60 percent of his attempts.
Changes in the quarterback’s surroundings mattered. Left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who didn’t play the first two weeks, returned. Efficiency in the run game put the Vikings in optimal downs and distances. An early defensive touchdown eased some of the stress. The Cincinnati Bengals defense also seemed a tad less multiple than what McCarthy witnessed against the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons.
Still, Wentz consistently attacked the middle of the field, a staple of O’Connell’s offense since he arrived in 2022. Processing capacity is one of the reasons he was able to do it. O’Connell also cited Wentz’s “firm and repeatable fundamentals normally within the lower half of the quarterback’s mechanics.”
“You tie those things together,” O’Connell said, “and then you have a system. Then you have rhythm. … Sometimes, it’s the reactionary ability to still consistently play with the poise and decision-making. All of that becomes much easier when you’re taking the right footwork and (are) balanced throughout the drop and reading with your feet. That can be an incredible weapon for a quarterback, whether they’ve played 20 years or two games. I think there’s value in J.J. seeing that.”
Last year, Sam Darnold used the phrase “feet and eyes” constantly. It had a purpose. The Vikings offense is structured in a way where, as long as the quarterback scans fluidly, receivers should be galloping into their field of vision. Breakdowns happen when protection crumbles, or when the quarterback cannot maintain the correct timing (and requisite accuracy) to find those receivers in stride.
That’s where McCarthy erred the first two weeks, even though he was not nearly the sole culprit in those struggles. The offensive line had issues. Quick-pass opportunities weren’t prevalent. Even in Week 1, receiver detail did not match expectations. But McCarthy didn’t help the matter with a 24.4 percent bad throw rate, according to Pro Football Reference. The metric is described as “throws that weren’t catchable with normal effort.” McCarthy’s number is almost six percent higher than that of any other qualified quarterback.
How much of his inaccuracy was a result of the ankle injury he sustained against Atlanta? Was it fair to expect McCarthy’s processing capability to adapt to the NFL game with a two-week sample size? And, perhaps most important, will the Vikings have the stomach to thrust McCarthy back into the fire if Wentz is still moving the offense?
To O’Connell’s earlier point, the last topic of conversation is getting ahead of things. But it’s too relevant now not to consider. The answer will reveal a great deal about the team’s priorities — both in the short and long term.
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
