J.J. McCarthy’s performance on Wednesday, in the first of two joint practices with the Patriots, was similar to what we’ve generally seen from him throughout this Vikings training camp. There were ups and downs, although more of the former than the latter. There were good throws and there were teaching moments, including an interception he sailed way over his target’s head.
Thursday was a different story. McCarthy found a rhythm on Day 2 of these joint practices and did some serious damage to the New England defense. He was decisive and he was accurate. He threw bullets into tight windows, but more importantly, he threw perfectly-placed passes with touch. It was one of the two or three best performances we’ve seen all camp long from Minnesota’s young starting quarterback, and an argument could be made that it sits atop that list.
McCarthy said that coming into Wednesday, he watched film of the Patriots’ first preseason game, but those weren’t the looks he saw in that practice. So on Thursday, he switched his mindset: “Hear the call, play the call, focus on my fundamentals and go through the pure progressions and play from there, not knowing what you’re gonna expect,” he said.
That plan worked out. “I feel like I was able to be more decisive and quick and really focus on my feet, which is the foundation for the rest of the play,” McCarthy said. “The offense was humming as a whole. I felt like we were running the ball really well, we were moving the line of scrimmage, guys were detailed in and out of their routes. I felt like the ball placement was there, a lot more accurate today than yesterday.”
Head coach Kevin O’Connell also used the word ‘decisive’ to describe McCarthy’s day. “Incredible amount of conviction to some of the decisions he made, location of the football,” O’Connell said. “Lot to build on.”
Thursday actually didn’t get off to the best start for McCarthy. Red zone work was a big focus of the day, and after some 1-on-1 and 3-on-3 reps down there, the teams broke into a 7-on-7 period in the red zone. McCarthy threw a dot to Thayer Thomas for a touchdown, but that was his lone completion among his first five throws before he ended the period with two more.
It was in 11-on-11 action — still in the red zone — where McCarthy really started to cook. (That’s encouraging, given that for much of this camp, he’s seemed to have more success in 7-on-7 work without facing a pass rush). After Jordan Addison couldn’t quite make a one-handed catch on a go route on the first rep of the period, McCarthy began a stretch where he didn’t throw an incompletion for a long, long time.
He hit T.J. Hockenson on an out-breaking route. He rifled a ball to Thomas over the middle of the field. He found Aaron Jones for a touchdown in the flat. He layered a ball to Addison with touch in the back of the end zone, which McCarthy later said was one of his favorite throws of the day. He escaped pressure to the right and hit Lucky Jackson while on the run.
McCarthy then threw a fourth consecutive touchdown pass, this one to Thomas, which set off the first big fight of the two days of joint practices. Patriots linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson threw Vikings left tackle Justin Skule to the ground by his jersey, which escalated things. Unsurprisingly, McCarthy was right in the middle of the scrum, sticking up for his teammate.
The teams then moved the ball back into the offense’s territory for a more standard 11-on-11 period, and McCarthy kept cooking. On a play where he was admittedly “sacked” by more than one Patriot, he let loose on a beautiful deep ball to Aaron Jones past multiple defenders. Jones ran into the end zone and started a SKOL chant with the crowd. McCarthy continued to hum with numerous shorter completions and another highlight: A deep ball to Addison that was maybe a little short, but placed where Addison could slide and make the grab.
And to cap off his excellent day, McCarthy led the Vikings on a successful one-minute drill. The situation was the offense trailing 27-21 with one timeout left. On the first play, McCarthy found Addison on a comeback route for a first down. After a throwaway and an incompletion to Hockenson (the TE wanted a flag thrown for holding), McCarthy scrambled on third down to move the chains. A defensive penalty was called on the next play, which was another scramble. Then, with around 15 seconds left on the clock, McCarthy went through his progression and rifled the drill-winning touchdown to Addison past Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones — the guy who picked McCarthy off in 7-on-7 action on Wednesday. Addison let Jones know about it, too.
It’s entirely possible I missed a play while also trying to focus on the Vikings’ defense, but I had McCarthy charted with 15 consecutive completions in 11-on-11 action. It was quite the performance by him and Addison, who were dialed in all day long. This was the last practice of Vikings training camp that was open to fans, and he put on quite the show for them.
The Vikings’ offense wasn’t the only unit that did better on Thursday than on Wednesday. It was a similar story for the first-team defense, which didn’t play up to its lofty standard during the first joint practice. That unit seemed to show up on Thursday with something to prove. Drake Maye and the Patriots still made some plays over the course of a lengthy practice, no doubt, but the Vikings’ pass rush was active and they snuffed out a lot of what New England was looking to do.
Jonathan Greenard, who has maybe been the MVP of Vikings training camp, was once again a problem. He had two “sacks” and several other pressures. Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave both got into the backfield, as did Jalen Redmond, who really impressed on Thursday. The pass rush, combined with the coverage, forced Maye to exhaust his progressions and attempt to scramble on numerous reps.
The Vikings were one play away from ending the Patriots’ 1-minute drill on a high note, too. Allen sacked Maye on the first play of that series, and after a big completion to Mack Hollins (who may or may not have been inbounds), Dallas Turner picked up a sack. There was a short completion and a false start. Then, with minimal time left on the clock, Maye chucked up a Hail Mary to Kayshon Boutte, who came down with it in front of Isaiah Rodgers and Josh Metellus to win the drill.
It was quite the eventful practice — and a great day for the Vikings.
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