To say that the 2025 NFL season was rough for J.J. McCarthy in his first opportunity to be the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings would be quite the understatement. McCarthy experienced plenty of first-year struggles, and for a little more than half the season, Adam Thielen had a front-row seat to all of it.
At one point in the 2025 campaign, the young quarterback revealed that he has an alter ego called "Nine" when he steps out on the field. That wound up being weaponized against McCarthy whenever he struggled during the season, and during a recent appearance on the "Pardon My Take" podcast, Thielen stood up for his former teammate.
""He [took] a lot of heat for saying that. But I feel like all of us as athletes have that.
Like when I'm, when I'm on the field, I'm a different person. I'm not Adam. I'm not my son's dad. [I'm not] how I treat them every day [at home]. When I'm on the field, I'm a different person. An attitude comes [out]. Like a mindset.
So, I understand where he's coming from. He's a different person on game day, which he should be. That's part of the thing, and that's what makes a lot of these guys great when they step across the line. They're different.
And when I first started throwing with J.J. and getting to know him, that's what I loved about him. I saw this intensity when he started playing and stepping across the line. [He had] this intensity and this competitiveness. And those [traits make you think], 'All right, this guy's gonna have success in the league.'"
Adam Thielen defends Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy from his harsh critics
McCarthy just turned 23 earlier this week, so counting him out already probably isn't something the Vikings should do.
This isn't to say Minnesota shouldn't bring in another quarterback this offseason who can challenge McCarthy for the starting job. Because if he's unable to beat out whoever the Vikings add to their quarterback room this year to be the team's QB1, then his future in Minnesota will likely be much easier to figure out.
But let the kid attempt to fix some of his weaknesses during the next few months and see if he can put together a much more productive performance in the 2026 season. At the very least, he deserves that chance.
We likely won't hear from him until the Vikings' OTAs begin in the spring, so it will be interesting to see how much has potentially changed since the end of the 2025 season when it comes to both his performance on the field and how he carries himself off the field.
It's not like McCarthy has been getting arrested at 3 a.m. at the Noodle Bar in Tampa, Florida, or anything like that. But there were times in 2025 when it seemed like he was a little too honest with the public, and it ended up being used against him.
For someone who wears his emotions on his sleeve like McCarthy, that will probably be very difficult, but it's something that could help him rebuild any confidence that he might have lost last season.
There's a popular saying in sports that goes like "Let your play do the talking," and it's popular because it's true. If McCarthy can quiet the outside noise that appeared to have an impact on him in 2025, then it could lead to better results in his on-field performance next season.