Around this time a year ago, it was easy for Minnesota Vikings fans to be optimistic about quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Sure, he hadn't made a regular-season start yet, after losing his entire rookie season to a knee injury, but the situation around him was about as good as it could get, and he was in a position to succeed instantly.
Now, after one injury-riddled season and 10 starts that were far more bad than good overall, everyone is in a far different place with McCarthy. That includes the Vikings' organization, who have replaced him with Kyler Murray.
Yes, head coach Kevin O'Connell has professed an open competition between Murray and McCarthy for the starting job. And ideally, McCarthy will respond to being unseated atop the depth chart in the fashion everyone wants to see. But we know how it will turn out.
Unless Murray is injured, he is the Vikings' starting quarterback next season. But during OTAs and training camp, there will still be plenty of eyes on McCarthy and ample interest in what he's doing (or not doing).
J.J. McCarthy hands Minnesota Vikings fans another thing to overreact to
On Friday, the same day as the Minnesota Twins' home opener at Target Field, McCarthy was halfway across the country at Yankee Stadium for the New York Yankees' home opener. He was also captured playing a little catch with New Jersey Devils center Jack Hughes, before Hughes threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
J.J. McCarthy is also at Yankee Stadium for the home opener and helps Jack Hughes warm up for his first pitch pic.twitter.com/TKmgTRH7n7
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026
A Thursday column from Jim Souhan of the Minnesota Star Tribune, which came off as placing the blame on Twins fans, not the stingy and always lamentable owners who refuse to sell Minnesota's MLB team, already put Twins fans on edge before Friday's home opener.
Now, however, many of those fans are also Vikings fans--probably a significant percentage--are seeing McCarthy at the home stadium of the team many of them hate the most outside of division rivals (And maybe even more than some of their division rivals).
Over the course of last season, from missing practice time for the birth of his first child (how dare he), to how he carried himself on the field sometimes, to missing time due to multiple injuries, to not playing well, McCarthy became easy to pick apart and criticize for everything he did.
We're not even to the start of the 2026 offseason program, let alone any organized light work on the practice field for OTAs. But McCarthy has already given Vikings fans, Twins fans, or anyone else who might care something to overreact to.