The Minnesota Vikings have already gone through the ups and downs of the NFL season, unlike any other team in the league that has had in 2025.
It all started with a fourth-quarter comeback win in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears that saw J.J. McCarthy score three touchdowns in his first career start to end the game, leading to his NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. The Vikings came back down to Earth with a blowout loss to the Atlanta Falcons the next week, which saw their quarterback get hurt.
McCarthy has been challenged early in the season as he is expected to be out until their Week 7 game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to a high right ankle sprain. He had to watch his backup, Carson Wentz, light it up with a commanding 48-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3.
For another player, especially for a young one, this might be tough for them to see someone succeed in their exact role. Thankfully, McCarthy's maturity is being shown in the best way.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is handling the chaos of an NFL season well
Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell spoke with the media to discuss his young quarterback. O'Connell shared that the two communicated via text before getting into a phone conversation after the win over the Bengals.
"A lot of that was triggered by him of just, 'Hey man, watching that was really cool for me to see what it can be like,'" O'Connell said via ESPN's Kevin Seifert. "We're not still talking about 2024 where it's, hey, watch and learn. This is experience, to have the club in your hand and then you're just not the first guy on the tee box, but your swing is coming soon and he's watching. That was the cool thing. It wasn't like I went into it like, 'Hey J.J., here's what I want you to take out of it. I wanted to organically see kind of what his take on how Sunday went for Carson. Both the things he did well, the things that we maybe could have been better at play, calls I could have been better at and just kind of see the full circle."
It's been an average first two starts to McCarthy's career with a 1-1 record. He has completed 58.5% of his passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns to three interceptions, adding a rushing score to the stat line.
The Vikings should still feel comfortable with McCarthy being the franchise quarterback, given the way he is conducting business and recovering from his injury. He can use this opportunity to learn from Wentz and see the good things the long-time veteran is doing on the field.
Now that everyone can see the maturity of the young quarterback, the response to coming back from injury will truly show his true character on and off the field.