It's been quite the rollercoaster ride for J.J. McCarthy this season for the Minnesota Vikings.
After missing his entire rookie season with a torn meniscus, the Michigan alum struggled through the first three quarters of his NFL regular-season debut in Week 1 against the Chicago Bears, only to fight back with a ferocious fourth quarter, throwing two touchdowns and running in another to lead the Vikes to an improbable 27-24 victory. The following week, however, there was no magic to be found, as he put forth a dreadful performance in a 20-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, which was made worse by the fact that he suffered a high-ankle sprain, which forced him to miss the next five games.
McCarthy returned in Week 9 with a solid outing, again throwing two touchdowns and running in another in a 27-24 win over the Detroit Lions, only to follow up with three straight subpar performances, throwing just two touchdowns against six interceptions in losses to the Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers. The 22-year-old also suffered a concussion against the Packers, forcing him to miss Minnesota's Week 13 matchup with Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks.
But upon his return, McCarthy played fantastic football in wins over the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys, completing a combined 66 percent of his passes for 413 yards with five touchdowns against only one interception, earning passer ratings of 129.2 and 108.0, respectively.
This past Sunday, however, the Illinois native suffered a small hairline fracture in his throwing hand against the New York Giants, which knocked him out of the game and will now force him to miss the Vikings' Christmas Day battle with the Lions.
So, again, it's been quite the ride for the youngster thus far.
Given some of his struggles, there have naturally been plenty of conversations had about what the Vikings should do moving forward, and most expect Minnesota to bring in a veteran QB this offseason. Now, whether that veteran would be given a legitimate shot to compete with McCarthy for the QB1 role in training camp or would simply be brought in as a true backup from the start remains to be seen and probably depends on who it is.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah recently discussed his young quarterback and seemed to suggest that the team is indeed ready to move forward with McCarthy as the franchise QB for the foreseeable future.
The Minnesota Vikings GM is optimistic about the growth he's seen from quarterback J.J. McCarthy
Adofo-Mensah appeared on Tuesday's episode of X's and O's with Kevin O'Connell and expressed his pleasure with the progression he's seen from McCarthy in recent weeks.
"There’s just been growth moments,” Adofo-Mensah said. "I try and make sure that my dialogue with him is incredibly positive because, if you think about this world, you got the external world who’s always going to be negative, and then you’ve got coaching who are going to be positive, but they’re also going to coach them."
"I try and always make sure I’m highlighting, ‘Hey man, this is a great thing that I’m seeing you’re doing.’ Things like playing really up in the pocket. A lot of young quarterbacks, when they get pressure in their face, they’re trying to bail out the back. He’s very good about getting up in the pocket either to make scrambles or make good decisions."
While McCarthy has indeed shown some growth as the season has progressed, the big knock on him has been consistency. And Adofo-Mensah certainly didn't shy away from that topic and used an interesting analogy to describe what he'd like to see moving forward.
"It’s about being Clark Kent [and] Superman," Adofo-Mensah said. "How many times are you going to put the cape on, but sometimes you just need to keep the glasses on and be that guy and kind of do those things? That’s the balance these have because the great ones are wired to want to put the cape on all the time.
"I think that we’re seeing him put the cape on a couple times, three times, four times a game, but also do the Clark Kent things, the boring things that really just metriculate offensive football down the field. So those are the things that I’m really excited to see. And then just the preparation, showing up a week of practice, getting the game plan, doing all those great things. Being there for his team is really exciting to see."
That certainly sounds like a guy with confidence in his quarterback. But now, we just sit back and wait to see what Adofo-Mensah does this offseason at the position. Because that will be a lot more telling than one interview.